Bishie Captors
by Sakura Naoko
Summary: No, this isnt related to Cardcaptors at all.... with the possible exception of an appearance of Syaoran Li. Come join us in the hunt to capture live and rare bishies!
1. The Beginning

Bishie Captors  
  
"Welcome to the Bishie Preserve!" a frumpled looking woman said to two eager looking young women. "This is the largest preserve on this side of the vast nothingness."  
  
"Really? Wow!" the blonde one exclaimed.  
  
"How many bishies do you have here?" the brunette one asked the woman.  
  
"5. They're extremely rare and hard to catch, seems most of them have a mind of their own." The woman answered.  
  
"Gee.. That's not very many," the blonde one said, looking unimpressed.  
  
The brunette elbowed the blonde and whispered "Be nice!"  
  
The woman decided to ignore the blonde and turned to her computer, which was sitting at an information booth- like apparatus. "Please state your name, date of birth, and why you have come to this preserve."  
  
The brunette spoke up first. "Sakura Kinoloto. I was born on Monthuary 12, and I have come about that job application you put in the newspaper."  
  
The blonde stated, "Naoko-sama is what you may call me from now on. When I was born is none of your business: you should be happy with the fact that I am speaking to you. I have also come for the job application."  
  
The woman glared at her. "WELL then, "Naoko-sama" it seems I have just the job for you. A BISHIE CAPTOR!!!" The woman started to laugh in a deranged tone.  
  
Naoko looked horrified. "You-you can't do that to me!" She cried. "That's just not fair!"  
  
The woman laughed again. "Too bad, sugar cakes. That's what I have decided to give you."  
  
"It's NAOKO-SAMA," Naoko bellowed.  
  
The woman rolled her eyes. "And you, Sakura, you shall also be a bishie captor."  
  
Sakura's eyes widened. "But, I haven't done anything!"  
  
"Too bad," the woman said. "Those are the only jobs open right now."  
  
"No wonder you didn't put a description in the paper." Naoko muttered.  
  
Bishie capturing was considered to be the most dangerous job in the world. Not only was it extremely hard to FIND a bishie in the first place, most bishies had. violent tendancies. If you weren't good, you didn't last very long.  
  
Sakura turned to Naoko. "Well, if we both have to be bishie captors, then we might as well team up. Right?"  
  
"You sure accept things quickly, why are you here for the job anyway?" Naoko asked.  
  
"Well. I need the money for one. and I'm looking for a boyfriend," Sakura answered.  
  
"Really??? My father disowned me," Naoko replied.  
  
"I'm sorry," Sakura said.  
  
"Don't be, he was a drunk fool all the time. Didn't even really know who I was," Naoko replied turning back to the woman. "So, what is our first job?"  
  
"You two will need to find a bishie hunter," the woman told them. "Most of the time, these hunters are bishies themselves, although sometimes they can be rabid fangirls. Bishies work the best though because most of them know the most popular hiding spots. Now, come with me and I shall give you the tools of the trade." The girls followed the woman through a door behind the desk.  
  
"Every bishie captor is equipped with a rope, mallet, and a butterfly net." The woman was saying as they walked down a hallway filled with doors of all sorts of colors. "Sometimes, if we have enough, the captors also get a tracking device, to find your bishie hunter when on the hunt, a retractable leash, for the more. excited ones, and a list of known bishies with their names, ranks, and who is after them. And, if you're REALLY lucky, a radar that tracks bishies within a 100 mile radius around you."  
  
"Whoa. That's some pretty high-tech stuff," Naoko said, staring at a door labled "Bishie Cafeteria" as they walked by.  
  
"Here we are," the woman said. They had stopped at a door lableled, "Bishie Captor Center". She opened the door. "Come on in."  
  
The Center consisted of lockers to the left, and showers to the right. In the middle of the room was a large black box. Directly behind the box was another door. "Your uniforms are in the black box," The woman said. "You can find your tools and weapons through that door," she said, pointing to the closed door across the room. She handed them each a set of keys. "Here are the keyes to your locker, and various other rooms that you are allowed to go in within this preserve. The color of the door matches the color of the key. I expect you both to be here at 7:00 A.M. Tomorrow morning to start your captuting training. As for now, you may pick out your uniforms and your tools and put them in your locker." The woman left, leaving the two girls staring at their set of keys.  
  
"She's a bit wacko isn't she?" Naoko asked as she started toward the black box.  
  
"I don't really think so, she's just been waiting to get rid of this job," Sakura replied with a dark look behind her at the door.  
  
The two proceeded to the black box and opened it. It was full of camouflaged apparel. They dumped the box out and found commando boots at the bottom along with.  
  
"Oooooooh! Pretty scarves!" Sakura squealed.  
  
Naoko picked up a red one. "I get this one!"  
  
Sakura rummaged around the scarves for a while before pulling out a pink one. There were so many lockers in the room that it took both girls a while before they found the locker number that matched the number on the key.  
  
"Gee. I have number 12,546,891. I wonder how many bishie captors there are," Naoko said awe struck.  
  
Sakura just stared at all of the lockers. There didn't seem to be anyone else in the room at all. "Maybe. maybe they're dead." she whispered.  
  
"Bah! They can't be dead, maybe they're off in a cave somewhere with their personal favorite bishie," Naoko said smiling at the dream of some handsome guy sitting next to her while she petted him.  
  
Sakura opened her locker first and a large dust cloud rolled out over her. Naoko looked wearily from Sakura's locker to her own. After the dust settled and Sakura was covered in filth, they put their uniforms into the locker and went to pick their weapons.  
  
"I hope they have all those hi-tech things that lady was talking about," Naoko said hopefully.  
  
"Me too." Sakura assented and opened the door. It appeared to be a rather large broom closet lined with shelves.  
  
Sakura walked over to one shelf, which was sagging from the weight of the mallets that were occupying it. She picked one up. "Hey, this isn't too heavy," she said.  
  
Naoko walked over to another shelf. "Hey, we're in luck!" she said. It was holding several black boxes. "I think these are those radars that she was talking about." She picked one up.  
  
Sakura walked over to another shelf. "And, here are the tracking devices!" she said and grabbed a couple. "Just in case we have more than one bishie."  
  
Naoko smiled. "This is going to be fun." 


	2. Training

CrazyInsaneAnimeFangirl: ^^ we're glad that you want to be!! Now, all you need to do is find that bishie preserve and you're all set!! -_- we know we want to know where it is..  
  
The next day, Sakura and Naoko reported to the preserve, ready for training. They were met at the front door by an overactive-looking young man with a nametag that said "HI! My name is Bill!"  
  
"Wow...." Naoko said. "Are you a Bishie?"  
  
Bill laughed. "I wish," he said. "Now, let's get you two started!" He led them through the same door as they went through yesterday and down the hallway. This time, they went to the end of the hallway, and through a violently green door labeled "Gym." "This is where you will be working out for today. Tomorrow you start your jobs."  
  
Sakura eyed him wearily. "Shouldn't we have more training than that?" she asked him.  
  
"Nope!" he answered brightly.  
  
"No wonder so many captors go missing..." Naoko muttered to her friend.  
  
They entered the room and saw dozens of different workout machines all over the room.  
  
"I'll leave you two in here. I'll be back in about 2 hours with food." Bill said and left the room, locking the door as he went.  
  
Naoko's mouth twitched. "Why'd he have to lock us in here??"  
  
Sakura shrugged and turned to a treadmill. "We might as well start... let's see if we can make this fun. You know how the saying goes, 'time flies when you're having fun.'"  
  
"Yeah..." Naoko replied.  
  
The two set to work going around to different machines. The only problem was, neither of them could figure out a way to make it fun.  
  
After the two hours had passed up, Bill came back, and true to his word, he brought food.  
  
"Donuts?!?" isn't that kind of..... Bad for us?" Naoko asked incredulously.  
  
Bill beamed at them. "Not in this job!" He extended the plate laden with donuts.  
  
Sakura looked at Naoko. "Sounds good to me!" she exclaimed.  
  
After they had their lunch, Bill set them to work training. "Now," he told them, "If I was a bishie, I wouldn't want to be caught!"  
  
No really," Naoko muttered.  
  
"So," Bill continued, "Most of the catching you are doing is actually chasing. Actually, about 99 percent of it is chasing. Some of the bishies are even intelligent enough to travel trans-continental and sometimes even across the world!"  
  
"Cool!" Sakura exclaimed.  
  
"Now, if you'd STOP interrupting me, we can get started with the real training," Bill said.  
  
"What training is that?" Naoko asked.  
  
"To catch me if you can," Bill returned and bolted out of the room, locking the door behind him.  
  
The two girls stared at the door. "How......... how are we supposed to get out?!?" Sakura demanded.  
  
"HELP!" Naoko screamed. "FIRE! WE'RE LOCKED IN THE GYM!! HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!"  
  
Bill heard this and thought that it was true. So he ran back to the gym and unlocked the door. That's when Sakura threw her bishie captor butterfly net over his head.  
  
"Got you," she said simply.  
  
Bill blinked and stared at them. "That was a dirty trick!!"  
  
"It worked didn't it?" Naoko said giving him a stupid look.  
  
Bill pondered that thought for a while.  
  
"I mean," Naoko continued, "Most Bishies would want to help damsels in distress, so that could very well be a plausible situation!"  
  
"She's right you know," Sakura said quietly.  
  
"Ok, ok, training passed. You'll both make very good bishie captors." Bill said removing the butterfly net from his head. "As long as the bishies aren't evil."  
  
"We passed?!" Naoko exclaimed.  
  
"Yes," Bill replied.  
  
Sakura face brightened. So far, both her and Naoko were doing great at their new jobs.  
  
"Well Bill," Naoko said. "I think it's time you give us our first assignment."  
  
Bill gave her a weird look. "Alright...." he said slowly. "I suppose it is to find your bishie hunter."  
  
"Righto," Sakura said. "Where do we find one?"  
  
"Um.... you... hunt them. That is, if you want a bishie as your hunter. If you want to use a rabid fangirl, which isn't as effective, then you just need to go to the nearest anime convention." Bill answered.  
  
"I think I want a bishie," Sakura said. She smiled serenely. "Imagine having one at our beck and call..."  
  
"Sounds good to me," Naoko said. "Let's get cracking! Now, Bill, how exactly do we go about finding a bishie that would be a good hunter?"  
  
Bill beamed. "Research," he said and held up a CD.  
  
The girls stared at it blankly. "Is that some kind of record that holds information on all the bishies of the world?" Sakura asked.  
  
"Better," Bill said. "It contains all anime episodes and manga volumes ever to exist."  
  
"Whoooooooooooooooa," both girls said simultaneously. Naoko snatched it. "Do you know how much money it would cost to see all this if we weren't Bishie captors?" she said.  
  
"um.... as much as all the episodes and stuff would cost if we bought it ourselves..." Sakura said.  
  
Naoko gave her a look. "That was a rhetorical question."  
  
"Heh... sorry," Sakura sweatdropped.  
  
"Beh, anyway... so... all we do is watch this and see what bishie would be best?" Naoko asked Bill.  
  
He nodded enthusiastically.  
  
"Can we go home to watch it?" Sakura asked.  
  
Naoko had a confused look on her face. "What is she getting at?" she thought.  
  
"Absolutely, this disk will play on wide screen TVs too. That is the best way to watch them if you want to find a good bishie hunter," Bill replied.  
  
"Perfect," Sakura mumbled.  
  
"Ok! Then lets go home then and do our research," Naoko said.  
  
"Just be careful with the disk. That is the only rule!!!" Bill called after the girls as they dashed out of the gym.  
  
"Sakura, what were you getting at when you asked if we could watch it at home?" Naoko asked when they reached Sakura's house.  
  
Sakura smiled mischievously(sp??). "I'm going to copy it, for both of us. That way, we don't have to download any more episodes, or use any of our money from this job to buy manga."  
  
Naoko's eyes widened. "Sakura, you're brilliant!!" she exclaimed.  
  
Sakura smiled. "Let's go then... we'll watch them first then copy them."  
  
"Alrighty then," Naoko replied.  
  
They entered Sakura's house and went to the TV. Sakura set it up the disk while Naoko made herself at home on her couch.   
  
Sakura joined her friend. "Well, let's get started!" she said. She pulled out the remote control and popped up the menu. There was a HUGE list of animes and manga. "What should we watch first?" Sakura asked her friend.  
  
"Let's go in alphabetical order..." Naoko returned.  
  
3,967,541 hours later...  
  
"GOD!! I'm tired of this!" Naoko groaned. "And we're only at Ayashi no Ceres!"   
  
Sakura wearily popped back to the menu. "Let's say we just screw this and go get some ice cream."  
  
Naoko was staring at the wall. "Of course..." she murmured. "Why didn't I think of it sooner?"  
  
"Huh?" Sakura asked.  
  
"Look!" Naoko pointed to the poster she was staring at.   
  
Sakura turned to look. "It's a poster..." she said flatly. "Of a dog." She turned to beam at Naoko.  
  
"Inu Yasha!" they chimed together. 


	3. Gasp! Inu Yasha!

The next day when the girls returned to work, Bill greeted the just as  
energetically as before. "So, how'd the research go?" he asked.  
  
The two girls beamed.  
  
"We found the perfect bishie to hunt for us," Naoko said.  
  
"And... who is it?" Bill asked egerly.  
  
"Inu Yasha!" Sakura chimed.  
  
"Y-you're not serious are you!?!" Bill cried and looked like he was  
going to faint.  
  
"Well... yes, we are," Naoko replied.  
  
"He's the most difficult bishie to capture! He's WAY above your league  
right now," Bill explained.  
  
"We've chosen, so lead us to Inu Yasha!" Naoko yelled furiously.  
  
"Ok, Naoko-sempai," Bill replied looking like a little kid.  
  
Sakura smiled brightly. "This is going to be fun!!"  
  
"Follow me," Bill said heavily. He took them to a door labeled  
'Control Room.' "This is where you can track all known Bishies, or at  
least the area they live in. Unfortunately, Inu Yasha cannot be  
tracked, and he changes his territory frequently. Last time he was  
sighted, it was around the United States/Canadian border around  
Minnesota."  
  
"How did he get there?" Sakura asked. "Isn't he supposed to live in  
feudal Japan?"  
  
"He followed Kagome, got lost, amazingly, and chased down a Fruito Lay  
truck." Bill said.  
  
Naoko giggled. She then opened the door and a overly cheerful voice  
said "WELCOME, Bishie Captor! It is my pleasure to help YOU find your  
Bishie!" Naoko jumped and looked around.  
  
"Our search engine had AI," Bill said. "Janice can get quite annoying  
at times.  
  
"Why, hello Bill!" Janice-the-cheerful-computer cried. "It's nice to  
sense your presence today!"  
  
"Yes, yes," Bill said distractedly and stepped in.  
  
Sakura and Naoko followed Bill and saw that the room was full of  
monitors with little black dots moving all over the place.  
  
"Wow..." Naoko said in awe as she looked around.  
  
"This room has more electronic devices them my entire house!" Sakura  
cried happily and ran to the nearest monitor.  
  
She started pushing a bunch of buttons and the dot on the monitor  
zoomed in so far that you could make out every facial feature of the  
bishie it was tracking.  
  
"Much better," Sakura said smiling.  
  
Naoko and Bill just gapped at her.  
  
"Are you sure you applied for the right job Miss Kinoloto?" Bill  
asked.  
  
"Yes, I'm still looking for a boyfriend," Sakura replied happily.  
  
Naoko was still staring at her. She had know that Sakura was good with  
electronics from what she had seen at her house, but she didn't know  
she was THAT good.  
  
"Now, it's time to find Inu Yasha!" Sakura said.  
  
"Inu Yasha..." Janice said. "Last reported sighting was one week from  
yesterday in the Minnesota area." One of the screen monitors displays  
changed to a small video of Inu Yasha clawing up a tree and surrounded  
by empty chip bags.  
  
Naoko beamed. "Isn't he just soooo cute?"  
  
Bill eyed her. "Are you SURE you know what you're getting into?" he  
asked her.  
  
"Of course! What's the worst a puppy demon can do to us?"  
  
"Uh... Naoko... did you even WATCH Inu Yasha?" Sakura asked her.  
  
Naoko nodded happily. "The whole series!"  
  
Sakura sweatdropped.  
  
"Well, how do we get there?" Naoko asked Bill.  
  
"We have teleporters here and teleporting stations across the world,"  
Bill answered. "Janice, can you set up a teleport to the nearest place  
Inu Yasha was last seen?"  
  
"Of course! It would be my pleasure!" Janice chirpped.  
  
All three humans shuddered.  
  
"Who programmed her?? She's a bit... over-active for a computer,"  
Sakura asked, narrowing her eyes at Bill.  
  
"Heh... she was programmed after my personality. Let's just say I've  
changed a bit since then. Anyway, it looks as if your teleport is  
ready. Off you go," Bill said pushing the two girls towards the  
machines.  
  
"Once inside the teleporting station you will hear a loud buzzing  
sound. Do not mind the noise, you will soon be immune to it," Janice  
said in a singsong voice.  
  
And true to her word, there was a loud buzzing sound.  
  
"It sounds like a hoard of bees!!" Naoko yelled over the noise to  
Sakura, while plugging her ears.  
  
"If you're talking to me I can't hear you!" Sakura called back,  
plugging her ears as well.  
  
Then it stopped. The noise disappeared. Naoko and Sakura put their  
hands down and looked around. They seemed to be in some sort of dark  
room.  
  
"Where are we?" Sakura asked.  
  
"No idea," Naoko replied.  
  
There was a thin sliver of light coming from in front of them. Naoko  
walked forward and found that it was a small door. When she opened it,  
some letters fell in.  
  
"What the?! We're in a mailbox?!?!" she screamed.  
  
"How in the hell can we fit into a MAILBOX?!?" Sakura wailed.  
  
"I guess we were shrunk, dummy," Naoko returned.  
  
"How are we going to catch Inu Yasha if we're shrunk?" Sakura asked  
her friend.  
  
"I donno.... we'll figure something out." Naoko said. "Here... let me  
stand on your shoulders," she said. "I'll try to get out and find  
something to get you out with."  
  
"Ok.........." Sakura said.  
  
Naoko climbed on Sakura's shoulders and could just barely touch the  
edge of the opening. "I... think... I can... reach it," she said in a  
strained voice, reaching up as far as she could. She grasped the edge  
and pulled herself up. "Got it!" she cried. "I'll come back as soon as  
possible!" She disappeared through the opening. Naoko turned around  
and hung from the outer side of the mailbox. 'What do I do now?" she  
thought. As if an answer to her question, she started to grow. As soon  
as she was big enough to not get hurt, she dropped to the ground and  
stood on the sidewalk, waiting until she was full size. A few people  
stopped to stare at her. "Neat," she said to herself and looked  
around. It seemed as if she was in the downtown area of some sort of  
small town.  
  
"Who the hell are you?" an irate man asked her.  
  
"My name is Naoko. I am a Bishie Hunter." she returned. "Right now, I  
need to find a way to get my partner out of that mailbox," she said,  
pointing to the object containing her friend. "Do you happen to have a  
spare screwdriver on you by any chance? Or a chainsaw?"  
  
"I heard that Naoko!!!" Sakura hollered. "No way are you going to use  
a chainsaw!!"  
  
The man jumped at the voice screaming from within the mailbox. He  
reluctantly handed over his handy-dandy little screwdriver that he  
carried everywhere.  
  
After about 5 minutes Sakura was finally free and full grown again.  
  
"Such a relief. It was starting to get stuffy in there," Sakura said  
smiling at the man.  
  
The man slowly backed up.  
  
"SHE-DEVILS!!!!!" he screamed and ran.  
  
"Eh? Where's a she-devil?" Sakura asked looking around.  
  
"I don't know. Anyway, you got the tracker right?" Naoko asked.  
  
Sakura pulled out the two trackers and right away they picked up a  
lead.  
  
"Looks like we're in luck. He's still here," Naoko said taking off in  
the direction her tracker pointed.  
  
Sakura smiled at the people they passed while trying to keep up with  
Naoko who had a fairly large head start.  
  
The tracker led them out of town and into a nearby grove of trees.   
  
"We should be careful," Sakura said when she caught up to Naoko.  
"Since it's our first time."  
  
"Good idea," Naoko agreed. "Let's put on our gear." The girls donned  
safari hats and kneepads. Naoko pulled out her tracking device  
quietly and pushed some buttons.  
  
"Bishie 12 yards away and apparently stationary!" the tracking device  
cried. "Oops! Looks like it's starting to move!"  
  
"Would you shut up?" Sakura hissed at it.  
  
"I would be honored to follow your requests!" the machine said in an  
overly cheerful voice.  
  
"Stupid!" Naoko said.  
  
"I hope nothing else talks," Sakura said.  
  
"All of your electronic devices talk!" the tracking device informed  
them. "Oh! By the way, the bishie is moving in this direction."  
  
"Didn't I tell you not to speak?" Sakura asked.  
  
"What are you doing in my grove?" an angry voice asked them.  
  
The girls looked up from the machine and saw their first free-ranging  
bishie.  
  
"Hi, Inu Yasha!" Naoko said.  
  
"OOO! Inu Yasha!" the machine said. It gave a little shake and fell  
out of Naoko's hands. Sakura picked it up and looked at the screen.   
It was blank. "I think it fainted..." she said.  
  
"Great..." Naoko said. "We have a fan-computer on our hands."  
  
"I repeat - " Inu Yasha started.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, we heard you," Sakura said.  
  
"Would you like to be our bishie tracker?" Naoko asked him.  
  
"No." Inu Yasha said. 


	4. A New Bishie

"Aww. Come on Inu Yasha. You have to be our bishie tracker. You're the best one out of the pot. There's no one better," Sakura whined at him.  
  
Inu Yasha's ears twitched. "The best one you say?" he asked.  
  
Naoko nodded enthusiastically. Sakura gave her a confused look.  
  
"You can't find anyone better you say," he added.  
  
"Yep," Naoko replied.  
  
"I... uh.... I don't know..." Inu Yasha said.  
  
"Well, we'll give you a day to think about it, ok?" Naoko said. She turned around and started to walk away.  
  
"Naoko!" Sakura chased after her. "What are you doing?"  
  
"Being diplomatic," Naoko answered and turned around to look at Inu Yasha. He had sat down with his back against a tree and seemed to be pondering his situation.  
  
"But why?" Sakura asked. "Wouldn't it be easier to just throw a net over him and put on a leash?"  
  
"He would tear through the nets, silly!" Naoko said. "Now, lets find someplace to stay..."  
  
They walked back into town. "That place looks nice," Sakura said and pointed to a small inn named "The Little Cottage". They walked through the door. A little bell tinkled, announcing their entrance.  
  
"Hello!" a young man greeted them from the counter. The girls stopped and stared at him. He was a bishie. No doubt about it. Naoko hurriedly checked her tracking device. "Shut up!" she hissed before it could say anything. It didn't report any other bishies in the area except Inu Yasha.  
  
Sakura ran up and threw her butterfly net over the young man. "Hi!" She said. "Did you know that you are an unregistered bishie?"  
  
"Eh?!?" the young man replied staring at her through the net.  
  
"Yep, an unregistered bishie," Naoko replied fumbling with her clipboard.  
  
"Now, a name. How about Q-Bert, Naoko?" Sakura asked.  
  
"Hey! I have-" he was cut off.  
  
"Q-Bert is a fine name!" Naoko replied. "Now, if you would be so kind, Q- Bert, as to give us you rank and who is chasing you." She pulled out a pen and was ready to jot everything down.  
  
"Rank? Who's after me?" the young man now named Q-Bert questioned.  
  
"Yes, that is what she requested," Sakura said smiling brightly.  
  
"You guys don't work for the TV network, do you?" he asked.  
  
"Oh heavens no, we work for the Bishie Preserve," Naoko said, still ready to write the answers down.  
  
"Bishie preserve..." Q-Bert said, baffled.  
  
"Yep! We rescue endangered bishies and re-deposit them in the preserve to ensure that they are well taken care of." Naoko said.  
  
"But, I'm not endangered!" Q-Bert said. "And I don't need to be re- deposited!"  
  
"That's what YOU think," Naoko said. "Now, what was your rank again?"  
  
"I don't have one," Q-Bert said. "And I have a name. It's Phillip."  
  
Naoko snorted. "Bah! Phillip! What a stupid name! Who would name their child PHILLIP?"  
  
"I have a cactus named Phillip," Sakura said quietly.  
  
"Heh...." Naoko sweatdropped. She then recovered herself. "Well, since you don't have a rank, we'll give you one." She pulled out her tracking device. "Hey, stupid!" she said. "Where can I find out info on how to assign ranks?"  
  
"You honor me by giving me a nickname!" the machine said cheerfully.  
  
Sakura rolled her eyes at Naoko. She then whipped off the net and deposited her retractable leash on the hapless Q-Bert a.k.a. Phillip. "Is that more comfortable?" she asked.  
  
Phillip sweatdropped. "Not really," he said.  
  
"Well," Stupid said. "I can pull up a list of ranks for you, if you'd like."  
  
"Yes, please," Naoko said.  
  
"Okay, Rank 1: Bishies in anime/manga; Rank 2: Bishies that the captor does not think is very cute; Rank 3: Game Bishies; Rank 4: Movie Bishies; Rank 5: Unregistered Bishies; there are also Ugly, Hideous, and Loveable promotions or demotions," Sakura read off.  
  
"Thank you Sakura," Naoko said writing the ranks on her clipboard so she wouldn't forget them. "Now, Q-Bert would be an unregistered bishie, so that would make him a Rank 5, correct?"  
  
"Yes," Sakura replied. "You do realize that you will have to come with us to the Bishie Preserve."  
  
"But I'm not endangered!!!" he exclaimed trying to pry off the leash.  
  
"Oh... I wouldn't do that if I were you, it might-" Sakura started but was cut off as a large charge of electricity zapped Q-Bert. "-electrocute you..." she finished.  
  
Q-Bert just stared at Sakura for a while, twitching and his hair standing on end. Sakura sweatdropped.  
  
"Ok Q-Bert, we would like to stay her for a day. Is that possible?" Naoko asked smiling.  
  
"My NaMe Is Not Q-bErT!!!" he yelled.  
  
Sakura plugged her ears. "Please don't yell. We only need it for one night. Our bishie tracker is deciding whether of not he will join us. Please?"  
  
Sakura gave him a puppy dog look.  
  
Q-Bert huffed for a while then sighed. "Fine," he said.  
  
"Goodie!" Naoko said. "We'll take a double room."  
  
Q-Bert sulkily signed them in and handed them a key each. "Thank you for staying at The Little Cottage," he said heavily.  
  
Sakura beamed at him. "You're welcome! Now, I'm going to take this leash off of you, but don't try to run away! You'll get in trouble if you do."  
  
Q-Bert simply stared at them.  
  
"Well, I'm beat," Naoko said. "Let's go to our rooms."  
  
"Okie dokie!" Sakura said.  
  
The girls went to their rooms and went to sleep.  
  
The next morning, they got up, showered, and went downstairs to claim their new bishie. There was only a woman at the desk.  
  
"Where's Q-Bert?" Naoko asked the woman.  
  
"Q-Bert?" the woman said. "I don't know anyone by that name."  
  
"She means Phillip," Sakura said.  
  
"OHHH! Phillip! He called in sick today," The woman told them.  
  
Naoko swelled. "That... that.... rude bishie!" she said angrily.  
  
Sakura beamed at her friend. "I entered him into the tracking device so we'll know where he is, if he decided to leave us," Sakura told her friend.  
  
The woman was staring at them.  
  
Naoko turned to stare back. "We'd like to check out," she said finally.  
  
The woman was still staring at them when they finally checked out and were leaving the building. Sakura was watching the tracking device.  
  
"Inu Yasha is traveling in our direction," the device called out.  
  
And sure enough, when the girls looked up there was Inu Yasha. He had a small pack with him that looked like it was full of food.  
  
"I'll be your bishie tracker," he said very quickly.  
  
Sakura smile and held up the leash. "You have to wear this though," she said.  
  
Naoko clamped it on and took the leash from Sakura. "Now, go find Q-Bert!" she called.  
  
"Who's Q-bert?" Inu Yasha asked.  
  
"Our second bishie," Naoko cried happily.  
  
"Q-Bert, Rank 5: Unregistered Bishie. So far no one is after him," the device called out. It sprayed something out so that Inu Yasha could smell it. "I took his scent, just in case."  
  
"Ok, I've got a scent!" Inu Yasha said and took off dragging Naoko with him.  
  
"Hey!! Wait for me!!!" Sakura called after them.  
  
"Why don't you try the roller blades that are in your shoes," the device said.  
  
"I have roller blades in my shoes?" Sakura asked incredulously.  
  
"Yes, just hit the top of the shoe against something solid. Good day for now," the device said and shut itself off.  
  
Sakura hit her shoe against a bench and sure enough, roller blades popped out.  
  
"Cool! I wonder if Naoko knows about this," Sakura said and took off after Naoko and Inu Yasha.  
  
"NAOKO!" Sakura bellowed.  
  
"What??" Naoko called back.  
  
"There are roller blades in your shoes! just hit the top against something!"  
  
Naoko's foot flew out, hit a light pole, and sure enough, some roller blades popped out. "Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" Naoko cried as she was pulled along by Inu Yasha.  
  
Inu Yasha pelted down a street, turned into an alleyway, and stopped. Naoko, who was being pulled along by him, slammed into the suddenly still dog demon and fell over. "Ouch!" she mumbled.  
  
"Shhh! The smell is extremely fresh here," Inu Yasha told her.  
  
Sakura came gliding up, panting for breath. "Jeez, you guys! Did you HAVE to go so fast?"  
  
"Shh!" Inu Yasha said again. He was sniffing around, apparently looking for the source of the scent.  
  
Naoko giggled nervously. "Our first real bishie hunt!" she whispered.  
  
"He's in there," Inu Yasha said, pointing to a run-down building.  
  
"What should we lure him out with?" Sakura asked.  
  
The girls stood there, pondering the idea for a while.  
  
"Why not just go in and get him," Inu Yasha suggested.  
  
"I guess that could work," Naoko said.  
  
"HEY! Tracker thing, how you put the roller blades away??" Sakura asked the device.  
  
"Just hit the shoe on something again," was it's reply.  
  
Sakura kicked a nearby brick wall and the roller blades disappeared into the shoe.  
  
"Nice," Sakura mumbled. "Ok, who's going in first?"  
  
"I say you," Naoko replied, smiling.  
  
"Why me?" Sakura asked.  
  
"Because you were the first one to catch him. So technically, that means YOU'RE after him." Naoko said matter-of-factly.  
  
"Oh really?? Is that true bishie tracker device?" Sakura asked, once again turning to the device in her hand.  
  
"Q-Bert, Rank 5: Unregistered Bishie, Bishie Captor Sakura is chasing him. Yes, I'd say that's true," the voice said happily.  
  
"Ok, I'll go first. But, once we're inside, how are we going to catch him without him running away?" Sakura asked turning to Naoko.  
  
They were saved from answering that mind-boggling question by the appearance of Q-Bert.  
  
"Uh oh..." Q-Bert said when he saw the Bishie Captors and Inu Yasha. 


	5. Pay Checks and Kagome

Q-Bert turned around and tried to go back through the door he had emerged from, but Inu Yasha was too fast for him.  
  
"What do you want with these girls?" he snarled and grabbed onto the collar of Q-Bert's shirt.  
  
"N-nothing!" Q-Bert stuttered.  
  
"He doesn't want anything with US, silly!" Naoko said. "WE want to CATCH him!" she beamed at Inu Yasha.  
  
".........oh," Inu Yasha said and handed Q-Bert to Sakura.  
  
"Where are you taking me?!?" Q-Bert demanded.  
  
"To the Bishie Preserve, of course!" Sakura answered. "Where you will be safe and sound and adored my multitudes of fan girls!"  
  
"That doesn't sound so bad," Q-Bert said. "I don't think I would mind that."  
  
"Well, I guess I'll be leaving you now," Inu Yasha said. "seeing that I helped you catch this bishie of yours and all."  
  
Naoko snorted. "No you aren't. You are our hunter until we retire. That's the rules."  
  
Inu Yasha glared at her. "What rules??" he demanded.  
  
"These." Naoko showed him her tracking device and a document labeled 'Rules for Bishie Hunters'.  
  
"That's crap!" Inu Yasha said. "I'm leaving anyways!"  
  
"NOOO you don't!" Naoko grabbed one of his ears and pulled him back. "You're going to stay with us!"  
  
"Who's going to make me?" Inu Yasha snarled.  
  
Naoko pulled out a studded dog collar and put it around his neck. "Me." she said simply. She let go of him and he started to run away. Suddenly, a large buzzing noise was heard, Inu Yasha started shaking, and he fell to the ground; his hair smoking slightly.  
  
"Electric dog collar," Naoko said to the stunned Sakura and Q-Bert.  
  
"She's... insane!" Q-Bert exclaimed.  
  
"No, she's my partner. And a darn good one too," Sakura said approvingly.  
  
Q-Bert stared at the two girls. "What I am I going to do???" he thought.  
  
"Now, when we get back to the Preserve you will go through rigorous training teaching you how to make girls faint, string them along, and be pretty. We also have barber shops for cutting hair and we have many, many clothing stores to make you look darn sexy," Naoko explained.  
  
"This is going to be lots and lots of fun," Sakura said happily as she attached a retractable leash to Q-Bert's neck. "The only question is: how do we get back to the preserve?"  
  
Naoko stared at her for a minute. She had a point. Neither of them knew how to get back. This could cause large problems.  
  
"I can set up a teleport for you," the tracking device said happily.  
  
"I knew you would be worth something!" Naoko cried happily, hugging the device.  
  
"I am honored that I am worth something to you!" the device sang. "Now, all you must do is find a mailbox."  
  
"Again? Does it have to be a mailbox?" Sakura asked.  
  
"Yes, that is the only legal transportation of Bishie Captors." The device answered.  
  
The group wandered around until they found a mailbox, but it was an express mailbox, so none of them could fit inside it. So went continued their journey. They soon came upon a very large mailbox.  
  
"I think this is for the fan mail for the Preserve," Sakura commented.  
  
"You are correct!" the tracking device sang out. "Now please step up to the mailbox and put your hands in the slot."  
  
All four on them did so. Inu Yasha was reluctant but did so anyway because he did NOT want to be shocked again. There was a loud buzzing noise and the group was back in the control center.  
  
"YAY! We made it!" Sakura and Naoko cried happily, square-dancing around their bishie.  
  
Bill met them at the entryway to the teleporting room. He gaped at them. "You... you... you CAUGHT Inu Yasha?!?"  
  
Inu Yasha glowered at him.  
  
"Yep!" Sakura said. "AND we found an unregistered one too!"  
  
Bill's mouth fell open. He seemed flabbergasted. (A/N: Tee hee! funny word!) "Could they be..." a light shined on Bill and some dramatic music played. "The CHOSEN ones?"  
  
"Chosen ones? Bah! What crap is that?" Naoko said and gave a little tug on Inu Yasha's sleeve, for reassurance.  
  
"They say that two young women would be the rescuers of bishies around the world, and even the universe!"  
  
The other four stared at him. "Like I said," Naoko stated, "A load of crap. Now, would you be so kind as to lead us to where we can train our bishies?"  
  
The light turned normal again and the music faded. "Fine," Bill said. He led them along the hallway to a door labeled "Bishies and their Captors only. Oh, Caretakers can come in too. And, while were at it, why not the fan girls? Heck, EVERYONE can come in!"  
  
"This is where the bishies will be staying. Trackers too. You can come and collect them when you are hunting again. And, since you two have captured your first, well, two bishies, you are allowed to live in the preserve until you retire."  
  
"Wow! so, we don't have to pay for rent?" Sakura asked.  
  
"That IS the general idea," Bill said.  
  
"YAY!!!!!" Sakura squealed with glee.  
  
"Anyway, inside this room, you can take your bishie through training and everything else." Bill said.  
  
They entered the room and no one was there.  
  
"Very... peaceful," Naoko commented.  
  
In one corner there seemed to be a forest growing; Inu Yasha took off over there. In another corner there seemed to be a desert, for those bishies that live where there is a lot of sand. In another corner, there was a little coffee shop called "The Little Coffee Shoppe," and in the last corner there were bunk beds. In the middle of the room a large swimming pool was being filled with water.  
  
"The pool is for swimming and bathing for the bishies that live here," Bill explained.  
  
"Ok... but, where do WE stay?" Naoko asked.  
  
It was a very good question if you think about it. There hadn't been any Bishie Captors in such a long time, that the room they received hadn't been used since it was re-decorated.  
  
"Ahh... the captors room," Bill said in a mystical voice.  
  
"Cut the mysterious crap and show us our room. I'm beat!" Sakura cried.  
  
"Fine, fine." Bill grumbled.  
  
They were taken to the second level. There was a door labeled "The Captor's room". Bill opened the door for them and showed them in.  
  
"Nice to meet you," Naoko said, shook Bill's hand and slipped a 20 dollar bill into his hand.  
  
". IM NOT A FOOTMAN!" Bill yelled.  
  
Naoko sweatdropped. "Sorry," she said.  
  
The Captor's Room was a large suite, with a sitting room, 2 bedrooms, each with a walk in closet, a HUGE bathroom, and a "gaming" room.  
  
"Wow..." Q-Bert said. "This is nice!"  
  
"What are you doing here?" Sakura asked him.  
  
"You never let me go," Q-Bert answered.  
  
Sakura sweatdropped. "Sorry," she said and took off the leash.  
  
"I'll take him to the preserve," Bill said and led Q-Bert off. "You two will start training your Bishies tomorrow.  
  
"Wow... this life is pretty good," Sakura said.  
  
"Yeah, but you bet your bippy that there will be some sort of a catch to it, like a very-much shortened life span or something like that."  
  
"Yeah...." Sakura wandered off in the direction of the bathroom. Naoko headed towards the game room.  
  
Sakura washed her face, after all, they had done a lot of running that day. It was worth it though, they caught their bishie tracker, and caught an unregistered bishie, so far, the job was going well. Then it hit her. She never asked when they would receive their paychecks.  
  
"Naoko!" she called.  
  
"What?" Naoko called back.  
  
"Do you know when we are going to get our paychecks?" Sakura asked.  
  
The noise from the game room stopped. Naoko came rushing into the bathroom where Sakura was.  
  
"No, I don't. Let's go ask Bill, there are something things I want to buy," Naoko said and dragged Sakura out of the room. "Oi! Bill!" she hollered thought the entire preserve.  
  
"What is it now?" Bill asked, trying to keep his usual happy tone, but it had a hint of annoyance in it.  
  
"We were just wondering when we would get our paychecks," Sakura said very nicely.  
  
"Paychecks? You don't get paychecks. You are paid with the satisfaction of saving bishies all over the world. What IS a paycheck anyway?" Bill asked.  
  
Sakura and Naoko were ready to pass out. They weren't getting any money for this.  
  
"OH! Do you mean those slips of paper that have numbers all over them that you can cash and buy things with?" Bill said laughing hysterically. "Got you!"  
  
Naoko was about to attack him but Sakura held her back. She was mad too that he had tricked them, but she didn't want to hurt him.  
  
"You should have seen your faces!! Priceless!" Bill said through gasps of air. He was rolling on the floor from his own laughter.  
  
That was it. Sakura's self-control broke and both she and Naoko attacked.  
  
Bill gasped. "MOMMY!" he wailed and ran into the opposite direction.  
  
Naoko and Sakura chased him, then gave up when they discovered they were hungry.  
  
"Let's go find something to eat," Sakura said.  
  
"Good idea," Naoko returned. They hunted out Bill and made him show them where the buffet was. Since they were the only ones eating in the cafeteria, they decided to join their newly caught bishies in a small meal.  
  
"HI, INU YASHA!" Naoko bellowed as soon as they had opened the door to the preserve.  
  
Inu Yasha, who had been examining the pool suspiciously, jumped and looked up. "Hi?" he said and watched the two girls go to find Q-Bert.   
  
"Q-Bert! O Q-Bert!!" Sakura called, looking through the cupboards at the Little Coffee Shoppe.  
  
"If you're looking for Q-Bert, he is trying to escape," Inu Yasha said.  
  
Suddenly, the door to the preserve burst open. "HI! My name is Kagome! And I heard that you had the cutest bishie here," the girl named Kagome said. "OOh! Inu Yasha!" she squealed as soon as she saw him. She ran to him and glomped him, throwing Inu Yasha off balance. They both fell into the pool.   
  
"Peh! My bathing water is contaminated now!" Inu Yasha exclaimed as soon as he surfaced.  
  
"OOH! You're so cute!" Kagome squealed. 


	6. The Quest for Syaoran!

"Vile woman!!!" Inu Yasha yelled. "Get off me!!!"  
  
Sakura and Naoko just watched. They were enjoying the scene. People were actually enjoying the work that they had done. Inu Yasha started to get violent.  
  
"You think we should separate them?" Sakura asked.  
  
"I think that would be wise," Naoko replied.  
  
The two hurried over and tried to remove Kagome from Inu Yasha's back. It seemed as if Kagome had glued herself to him. They were having major difficulties.  
  
"But, Inu Yasha!" Kagome was saying. "We still have to find the Shikon shards!"  
  
"What are you talking about, woman?" Inu Yasha growled.  
  
Naoko had jumped into the pool to try to get a better grip on Kagome. "C'mon Kagome, let go!" she said as she tried to pry Kagome's fingers off Inu Yasha.  
  
Q-Bert wandered in from the desert side of the preserve. "Did I miss something?" he asked as he watched the two Bishie Captors struggle with Kagome.  
  
"Inu Yaaaaaaasha!!" Kagome wailed. She was making quite a racket.  
  
Naoko had succeeded in pulling one of Kagome's hands off when Bill wandered in, curious about the noise. When he saw what was happening, he started to laugh. "You know, we have a special team to deal with rabid fan girls like that," he said.  
  
Sakura paused in her fight. "You do?" she asked.  
  
"I'M NOT A FAN GIRL!" Kagome shrieked.  
  
"Uh huh," Naoko said. "and I'm not a Bishie Captor."  
  
"You're right!" Kagome said. "You're a boyfriend stealer!!"  
  
"Who says I'm your boyfriend??" Inu Yasha demanded. "You're only a stupid human!" Kagome stopped struggling and her eyes filled with tears. "What - what do you mean?? Don't you remember all the adventures we went through together? All the fun times we had together?"  
  
Inu Yasha stared at her for a moment. "Hey..." he said. "You DO look kind of familiar...."  
  
"You must be thinking of Kikyo" Sakura stated.  
  
"NOT KIKYOOOOOOOO!!" Kagome shrieked and started struggling harder.  
  
"NOW would be a good time to bring out that team, Bill," Naoko said and grabbed Kagome's other hand.  
  
"Heh, well the thing is," Bill said, "We don't exactly HAVE actual PEOPLE in the team... it just exists theoretically."  
  
"Stupid!!! Then why don't you help us then?!" Sakura screamed.  
  
She dove in and grabbed hold of Kagome's long black hair. "LET HIM GO!" Kagome screamed and released her grip.  
  
"If you don't leave, I'll take this lovely pair of scissors and chop that long hair of yours off. Ok?" Sakura asked maliciously.  
  
Kagome nodded and hopped out the pool and ran for her life clutching her hair.  
  
Naoko starred at Sakura. "Wow."  
  
Sakura smiled. "I don't really have a pair of scissors."  
  
Naoko started clapping. "Wonderful. Bill, we'll be bishie captors and the team that deals with rabid fan girls."  
  
"If you give us double the pay." Sakura added.  
  
"But, but, but!!" Bill said. He sighed. "Fine... It's not like we'll get anyone else for the job anyways."  
  
Naoko was happily patting Inu Yasha's head. "Now, isn't that better now? Now that there isn't a rabid fan girl hugging you?"  
  
Sakura shook her head. "You know," she told Bill. "This place would be MUCH more popular if you had more Bishies."  
  
"No, really?" Bill said sarcastically. "Well then, I'll just have to mail order some more then!"  
  
Naoko turned around. "You can mail order Bishies?" she asked.  
  
Everyone, including Inu Yasha, fell over anime-style.  
  
"I think catching them is more fun," Naoko added thoughtfully.  
  
"Well then," Sakura said. "Let's go catch some more!! Tomorrow, right off the bat!"  
  
Naoko gave her a thumbs up. "Right on!"  
  
The next day, Sakura and Naoko rose bright and early, ready to start the new day. "So, who do you want to catch first?" Naoko asked Sakura as they were walking down to the preserve to collect their Bishie Hunter.  
  
"SYAORAN LI!!" Sakura cried.  
  
Naoko sighed. "I was hoping you were going to say Legato Bluesummers," she said mournfully.  
  
"We can catch him next," Sakura reassured her friend as she opened the door to the preserve.  
  
They walked over to the bunk beds. Inu Yasha was nowhere to be found. However, Q-Bert was sleeping on one of the top bunks.  
  
Sakura shook him violently. "Q-Bert!" she said urgently. "Where's Inu Yasha??"  
  
"Inu Yasha?" Q-Bert asked groggily. "I think he's in the forest."  
  
"Righto!" Naoko said and marched over to the trees.  
  
"Did you sleep well Q-Bert? Bishies need lots of rest," Sakura said.  
  
Over in the forest section of the room Naoko was having a bit of trouble finding Inu Yasha.  
  
"Inu Yasha! Where are you?" she called. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!!"  
  
"Jeeze, what do you want?" Inu Yasha asked as he popped in head down from one of the trees.  
  
"There you are. We have to catch bishies today. Are you ready?" Naoko replied.  
  
"Fine," Inu Yasha replied jumping down.  
  
Naoko smiled and led Inu Yasha back to where Sakura was standing.  
  
"Is Inu Yasha ready?" Sakura asked as she saw Naoko walk up.  
  
"Yep. Now it's off to catch Syaoran and Legato-sama," Naoko replied and attached the leash to Inu Yasha.  
  
"Bye Q-Bert. Be good while we're away," Sakura said and walked out of the room with Naoko.  
  
"Now," Sakura said as soon as they were outside. "I have something for you to smell..." she held up an undershirt.  
  
Naoko and Inu Yasha stared at it. "What... what is that?" Inu Yasha asked.  
  
"More like, where did you get it and why do you have it," Naoko said.  
  
Sakura beamed. "I snuck into Syaoran's house and stole it!!"  
  
Naoko stared at Sakura this time. "Great... I'm a friend with a stalker..."  
  
"But why an undershirt?" Inu Yasha asked  
  
"That's not important," Sakura said. "What is important is that you get the scent and track us a bishie!!" she shoved the underwear in Inu Yasha's face.  
  
Inu Yasha snorted, coughed, and reluctantly sniffed the shirt. He then got down on his hands and knees and started sniffing. After a few minutes, he said "I don't smell anything."  
  
Naoko and Sakura looked at each other, then at Inu Yasha. "I thought you were supposed to have the best nose!" Naoko wailed.  
  
"It doesn't help if the Bishie is not in the area," Stupid the Tracking Device told them.  
  
Naoko and Sakura sweat dropped. "Oh yeah!" Sakura said. "Well then, Stupid, where is he?"  
  
Stupid was quiet for a minute. Then, "Currently, he is in Hong Kong, at his family house."  
  
"Wheeeeee!! We get to go to Hong Kong!!" Sakura squealed.  
  
"Shall I set up a teleport for you?" Stupid asked.  
  
"Yes!" both girls yelled at it.  
  
"I would also suggest that you change your attire so you fit in better in Hong Kong," Stupid instructed.  
  
"But we don't have any Chinese clothes," Naoko said.  
  
Sakura looked down the street. A new shop had just opened and the sold Chinese clothes. "Naoko, how about we go there?" She pointed to the store.  
  
Naoko looked where she had been pointed and saw the store. "Ok."  
  
The group headed down to the store with Inu Yasha sniffing various things. After buying their new clothes the two girls headed over to the nearest mailbox.  
  
"Teleport ready to go," Stupid piped.  
  
The girls stuck their hands in the small opening and were immediately sucked in. When they climbed out they were in the middle of Hong Kong.  
  
Naoko stared at all the buildings. "Some of these are taller than the ones in New York!"  
  
All of the people around hadn't seemed to notice that they had emerged from a mailbox and continued on their way.  
  
"Now, Stupid, where's Syaoran's home?" Sakura asked.  
  
Stupid was silent for a while. Then it made a sound that sounded something like a sniff. "I don't know! He put a block on it so that he couldn't be caught!"  
  
Naoko and Sakura looked at each other. "I think it's time to pull out that undershirt," Naoko said.  
  
Sakura pulled it out of her back pocket. "Here you go, Inu Yasha!" she said and stuffed it under his nose.   
  
Inu Yasha sniffed reluctantly again and started searching the ground for the scent. He led them through a market, two shopping malls, a couple of parks, and the beach. Finally, he found Syaoran's fresh scent. "I think I've got it," he told the girls.  
  
"Well then lead on!" Naoko cried.   
  
Inu Yasha took off back in the direction of the market. A mile before they got there, however, he turned right onto a well-paved street and up to a big house. Naoko and Sakura walked up the huge stairway to the large double doors and rang the bell.  
  
A butler opened it. "Tell Li Syaoran that we are Bishie Captors and here to capture him," Sakura told him. 


	7. Enter: Sakura Li!

The butler disappeared for a few minutes. Naoko, and especially Sakura, stood impatiently on the doormat. Inu Yasha continued to sniff around. After a few minutes, the Butler came back.  
  
"I apologize," he told them. "Master Syaoran declines to see you. He asks you to leave his property or he will set the family dogs on you."  
  
Naoko beamed. "Inu Yasha can take care of them for us!"  
  
Inu Yasha grumbled under his breath. Sakura patted him on the shoulder.  
  
"We ask again," Naoko said. "Take us to Syaoran!!"  
  
The butler sighed. "I am sorry, but I cannot do that."  
  
Sakura Li, formerly Sakura Kinomoto came to the doorway. "What is it, Yanagisawa?"  
  
"These young ladies demand to see the master."  
  
"And we're going to see him, damnit!!" Naoko grabbed her net, whacked the butler, and ran in.  
  
"I apologize for her behavior," Sakura said to him as she stepped over him and into the house.  
  
Inu Yasha followed them. "I have to sniff him out, don't I?" He asked them.  
  
"Darn tootin!" Sakura replied.  
  
Inu Yasha started sniffing around. "K'sou..." he muttered. "Too many scents..."  
  
Naoko prodded him with her net. "Well then, find the freshest scent!"  
  
Inu Yasha started to growl at her in anger but Naoko shocked him with the collar.  
  
"Hurry! Before the reinforcements come!!" Sakura said urgently.  
  
Inu Yasha started to protest, but with a warning glance from Naoko, he started searching again. He led them through the back of the house (which was HUGE) and into a garden. The three of them could hear a man talking quietly to someone else.  
  
"I wonder who that is..." Sakura whispered.  
  
Naoko grinned. "Maybe he has a son..."  
  
Sakura and Naoko smiled at each other, each anticipating a new, unregistered Bishie. They crept forward.  
  
Naoko stood up. "Hi!" She said as she threw the giant butterfly net over him.  
  
Sakura bounced out. "WHERE'S THE OTHER BISHIE?!?" she demanded of him.  
  
Syaoran started struggling. "HELP!! FLUFFY!!"  
  
A tiny dog bounced up and attacked Naoko. "MOMMY!!" she screamed as the dog grabbed her boots.  
  
Sakura turned around. "Inu Yasha!! Help us!"  
  
"Peh! A little dog isn't worth my trouble," he said and flicked the ball of fluff into the direction of Syaoran. Syaoran caught it. "Go!" he whispered to it. "Get help!!"  
  
Fluffy leapt out of his arms and ran into the direction of the house. Sakura leapt and tried to catch the tiny dog, but she missed by inches.  
  
Naoko pulled Stupid out. "Quick!" she cried. "Set up a teleport in the nearest location!! Before we get caught!"  
  
Syaoran was now struggling madly and aimed a kick at Sakura, who was staring at him, through the ropes. That didn't work too well, for he wasn't able to pull his feet out of the hole before Sakura pushed him over. She tied the net together.  
  
"Inu Yasha?" She asked, "Can you carry him for us?"  
  
"I guess," Inu Yasha said. He hoisted the struggling Syaoran up.  
  
"Let me GO!" Syaoran bellowed.  
  
"Teleport set up!" Stupid said cheerfully. "It is right in front of the mansion!"  
  
"How do we get there?" Sakura asked.  
  
"The only way is through the mansion," Stupid told them.  
  
The girls groaned.  
  
"Ha!" Syaoran shouted. "My wife won't let you leave!"  
  
Just at that moment, Sakura Li came into view.  
  
"Where do you think you're going with him?!" she demanded.  
  
The two bishie captors stopped and looked at each other then at Sakura Li.  
  
"Well... we're taking him to the Bishie Preserve," Sakura said.  
  
Sakura Li's eyes narrowed. "I'll call the police on you."  
  
"You can't do that," Naoko replied. "See, we're doing our job. We can't get arrested."  
  
Sakura Li, who seemed to have picked up Syaoran's glare, glared at the two girls.  
  
Sakura, Naoko, and Inu Yasha started backing up slowly.  
  
"You... you can't hurt us," Sakura said a little nervously.  
  
"Oh really?" Sakura Li replied.  
  
"Yes?" Naoko said.  
  
Sakura Li started pulling out her Star Key.  
  
"RUN!!" Sakura shouted.  
  
Sakura, Naoko, and Inu Yasha, who was still carrying Syaoran took off into the garden.  
  
"Sakura! HELP!!!" Syaoran hollered.  
  
Sakura Li had summoned the Windy Card and Sakura felt her feet lift off the ground.  
  
"Naoko! Take Syaoran back to the preserve! Then come back for me!" she called to her partner.  
  
Naoko seemed a bit reluctant but kept running.  
  
Naoko and Inu Yasha came upon a large brick wall.  
  
"Awww!" Naoko whined.  
  
Suddenly, Inu Yasha grabbed Naoko and took a huge leap. They were over the wall.  
  
"WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Naoko cried as she flew over. They landed and Inu Yasha took off in the direction of the front of the house. Naoko took one look over her shoulder and saw Sakura being dangled in the air upside down. "I'd better hurry," she muttered to herself." She followed Inu Yasha.  
  
Inu Yasha was waiting for her when she caught up. "Is this it?" he asked her and pointed to a mailbox. Syaoran had seemed to give up struggling.  
  
"Yep!" Stupid affirmed. Inu Yasha put his hand in the slot. Naoko followed suit. They were sucked in and landed safely at the preserve.  
  
"Inu Yasha!" Naoko said. "Take Syaoran to the Bishie Room!! I'm going back for Sakura!!"  
  
"Don't you need help?" Inu Yasha asked.  
  
"Nope!" Naoko said and ran in the direction of a room labeled "weapons" She entered and looked around. "Ahh!!! This is perfect," she said and picked up a giant mallet. she then pulled out Stupid.  
  
"Another teleport?" Stupid asked before she could say anything.  
  
"Right," Naoko replied and ran to the front. She stuck her hand into the mailbox and was sucked back to Syaoran's house.  
  
"Now... just to get back in the house," Naoko mumbled to herself.  
  
"The front door is still open," Stupid pointed out.  
  
Naoko sweatdropped but ran through the open door. "Sakura..." she whispered, "Where are you?"  
  
Suddenly a scream was heard from upstairs. Naoko charged up the long stairway knocking every housemaid over, making dishes and sheets go everywhere.  
  
"Sorry! But I'm in a hurry!" Naoko called and continued running up the stairs.  
  
The screaming had stopped when Naoko reached the top.  
  
"Which room?" Naoko asked quietly to herself.  
  
A small black cat walked up to Naoko and pointed to the door directly next to Naoko.  
  
"I believe you'll find you friend in there," the cat said.  
  
"T-thanks..." Naoko said and burst through the door.  
  
And there they were, Sakura Li and Sakura, chatting happily with one another.  
  
"Did I miss something? I thought you were being tortured," Naoko said.  
  
"Oh, that was before I told Sakura Li about the preserve. She's happy that her husband is being protected now. Right?" Sakura replied turning to Sakura Li.  
  
"Absolutely, I've always wanted to protect him from all girls that run up to him," she replied.  
  
Naoko dropped the mallet, awe struck.  
  
"Wowie.... so you mean that all that worrying I went through was for nothing?" Naoko asked.  
  
"Yep!" Sakura said.  
  
Naoko glared at her. "I'm going back to the preserve."  
  
Authors' babble: HIYA PEEPS!! We'd like to say thanks for reading this so far!!  
  
Naoko: We're going to be making little manga strips to go along with our story, so as soon as we get something up, we'll give you guys a link!  
  
Sakura: Don't worry though, nothing important will happen in the little strips. Just a little bit of comedy.  
  
Naoko: well, they won't be able to see it unless SOMEONE finishes. I won't say Sakura's name.  
  
Sakura: ¬.¬ I'm working on it!  
  
Naoko: whatever you say.  
  
Sakura: ANYWAYS, it takes place between chapter 7 and 8.  
  
Naoko: JUST SO YOU KNOW. 


	8. OMG! It's Knives! And Vash! And Meryl...

A couple of days after the girls' first attempt at catching Legato, they were sitting in the Bishie's part of the preserve, wondering what to do.  
  
"I'm bored," Sakura said as she watched Q-Bert walk down to the pool in a swimming suit, towel in hand.  
  
"Well, we could catch more bishies..." Naoko suggested.  
  
"But, who are we going to catch? I'm a little bit discouraged after our attempt at catching Legato." Sakura replied.  
  
"We could try to catch some unregistered bishies..." Naoko said. "Q-Bert wasn't all that hard to catch..."  
  
Sakura snorted. "In case you haven't noticed, Q-Bert is a pretty tame Bishie."  
  
"True..." Naoko said and gazed off into the distance.  
  
After a few minutes of silence, a bell rang.  
  
"Uh oh," Sakura said. "Visitor's time..." A crowd of screaming girls stampeded into the Bishie's Room. Inu Yasha, who was the only Bishie in immediate sight, dashed for cover in the trees. About half of the screaming girls chased him. Q-Bert poked his head over the fence that surrounded the pool to see what was going on. A few of the girls that noticed him tried to climb the fence to get at him, but to no avail. While the Captors were away, someone had put barbed wire over the top. Syaoran made a mad dash from the bunk beds and tried to get Q-Bert to open the gate to the pool, but Q-Bert wouldn't let him in. The rest of the girls, minus one, tried to glomp him.  
  
The lone girl walked up to the two Bishie Captors, who had climbed up on a rock to avoid being trampled.  
  
"Are you the Bishie Captors?" the girl demanded.  
  
"Uh....." Naoko said.  
  
Any of the other girls who were in earshot ran over to where Naoko and Sakura were sitting, demanding to be Bishie Captors. The girl turned around and stared at them. They quieted down quickly and backed away, looking frightened. The girl turned around.  
  
"My name is Muriel Catherine Gordian the III of the Shire in West Hobbiton (A/N: sorry.... I just finished playing LOTR). You may call me Mooie."  
  
"Um... hi Mooie," Sakura said. "What can we do for you?"  
  
Mooie glanced around. "I see you seem to have a bit of a problem with fan girls," she said nonchalantly.  
  
"That's an understatement," Naoko stated.  
  
Mooie sniffed. "I'm here to make a proposal." She said. "Catch Knives Millions and I'll help you control the fan girls. I'll even call one of my friends to help."  
  
Sakura's mouth dropped open. "But.. But..."  
  
"We'll do it!" Naoko chirped.  
  
Sakura turned to look at her friend in horror. "Do you KNOW who Knives is?" she demanded.  
  
"Well, duh!" Naoko returned. "I HAVE watched all of Trigun..."  
  
"Well, how are we going to catch a maniac that hates all humans and is a super-good shot??" Sakura demanded.  
  
Naoko grinned. "Use Vash."  
  
Sakura gaped at her for a while then simply said "I'm not even going to say anything about that."  
  
Naoko skipped out of the room humming happily. Sakura turned back to Mooie.  
  
"We will do our best to capture Knives. Now, if you would just sign here stating that you actually said you would do fan girl control," Sakura said and set a piece of paper out in front of Mooie, who happily signed it.  
  
"Now, remember, if you don't catch him, I'll become a rabid fan girl and bug you 24 hours a day," Mooie said flatly.  
  
Sakura sweatdropped and slowly walked out of the room. Naoko came running up with all the equipment and the two headed towards the nearest mailbox.  
  
"Stupid, set up a teleport to where Knives Millions is!" Naoko demanded.  
  
"But!" Stupid said, sounding for the first time in his servitude a bit complaintative, "he's all the way in Gunsmoke!! Do you KNOW how much work it will take to set up a teleport all the way there?"  
  
"It's your job, isn't it?" Sakura pointed out.  
  
Stupid gave a beep, which could be taken as a sigh and was silent for a few minutes. "Teleport set up," Stupid said.  
  
"See! That wasn't so hard, was it?" Naoko asked.  
  
Stupid grumbled.  
  
"Watch it!" Sakura told it. "Who is the one here that can smash you?"  
  
"Who's the one here that can send you to the sun?" Stupid returned.  
  
"Are there any mailboxes on the sun?" Naoko asked.  
  
"Actually, there are. And quite a few sun gods there too." Stupid told them. "When you get good enough, you can catch them."  
  
"Are they hot?" Naoko asked.  
  
Stupid formed two glaring eyes on its display screen. "I wouldn't have mentioned catching them if they weren't..."  
  
Naoko laughed. "I guess you're right... now, OFF TO WHERE KNIVES IS!!"  
  
"Gunsmoke," Stupid told them. "I'd bring sunscreen if I were you..."  
  
Naoko put her hand in her pocket and pulled out some sunscreen. "Whoa!" She said. "I didn't even put that there!"  
  
"These clothes are so cool!" Sakura said. She stuck her hand in the mailbox. "Ready to go, Naoko?"  
  
"Yep!" Naoko said and followed suit.  
  
Inu Yasha came rushing out of the preserve. "Wait!" He yelled.  
  
"I think he likes you," Sakura and Naoko whispered to each other simultaneously, and then gave each other weird looks.  
  
"Yes?" Naoko asked him.  
  
"Aren't you going to take me?" he demanded.  
  
"But, we have nothing for you to track him with!" Sakura said.  
  
Mooie popped out of nowhere. "Here," she said and handed Inu Yasha a pair of boxers. They were pink with red hearts. Inu Yasha made a face.  
  
"Well, looks like you can come with us," Naoko said and put a leash around his neck.  
  
"Are you sure those belong to Knives?" Sakura asked her.  
  
Mooie blinked. "Knives? Who said they belong to Knives?"  
  
Naoko stared at her. "This is going to be a long, long contract that you've signed..."  
  
Mooie smiled and skipped back into the preserve room.  
  
Sakura sighed and they were transported to Gunsmoke.  
  
They arrived in a town. "Um, excuse me," Naoko said to a nearby woman. "But, where are we?"  
  
The woman looked at her strangely. "December.... Where have you been lately?"  
  
"Earth!" Sakura exclaimed. Naoko socked her in the ribs. "Shut up!" she hissed.  
  
"Earth?" the woman said. "Why, I come from there! What a small world, to meet someone from a tiny village like Earth!" she laughed. "Hey, why don't we go grab lunch together?"  
  
Sakura and Naoko glanced at each other. "Um.......... sure!" Sakura said.  
  
"Nice going, freak!" Naoko said to her friend. "How are we supposed to pull this off?"  
  
"Well, at least she doesn't think we belong in an insane asylum!!" Sakura retorted.  
  
The woman glanced back. "My name is Anna," she said.  
  
"I'm Sakura," Sakura stated, "and this is Naoko. And this," she said pointing to the dog demon, who was sniffing around suspiciously, is Inu Yasha."  
  
Anna smiled. "Hey, I WAS planning to have lunch with some co-workers, but I'm sure they won't mind if you come along. Do YOU mind?"  
  
"No, of course not," Sakura said.  
  
Anna smiled again. "Great! They're names are Meryl Strife and Millie Thompson!"  
  
Naoko nudged Sakura. "A lead!" she whispered.  
  
Sakura beamed back.  
  
Anna took them to a small cafe. Meryl and Mille were already waiting for them there. Anna gave them a huge smile. "Hi, guys!" she exclaimed. "I found some other people from Earth! Can you believe it?" Anna introduced the two girls.  
  
"That's wonderful!" Millie beamed.  
  
Naoko put her hands on her hips. "Meryl, Millie, do you happen to know where Knives Millions might be at this moment? Or perhaps Vash?"  
  
Inu Yasha glanced at her. "Isn't it a good idea to be a bit more subtle?" Sakura just put her face in her forehead.  
  
At that moment Vash walked in talking animatedly to his brother, Knives.  
  
"Domo!" Vash said waving to Meryl.  
  
Sakura and Naoko looked at each other then back at the two bishounen.  
  
"Domo..." Knives replied half-heartedly. 


	9. A Ghostly Appearance

Sakura and Naoko smiled at each other. The other people looked dumfounded. "Seize him!" Naoko shouted to Inu Yasha and pointed to Vash.  
  
Inu Yasha looked a bit disgruntled as he peered up into Vash's face. Vash looked surprised and looked from Naoko to Inu Yasha who was looking pissed off.  
  
"Inu Yashaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!" Naoko whined. "You're a DEMON. He's only a plant, which is basically a super strong human being!! C'mon!! We need him to catch Knives!!"  
  
"Um, Naoko-chan, why don't we just catch Knives? I mean, he is standing right beside Vashy-san." Sakura said.  
  
Naoko opened her eyes in surprise. "Why, Sakura-chan!" she exclaimed. "That's a brilliant idea!!"  
  
Everyone else sweatdropped.  
  
"Oik!" Naoko said. (A/N: that was NOT a typo...) She pointed to Knives this time. "Inu Yasha!! Sic him!!"  
  
Knives sneered at her. "You expect a midget like him to be able to attack me and survive?" He asked. He pulled out his gun.  
  
"NO KNIVES!" Vash hollered and grabbed his twin as Sakura cried "OOH! PRETTY GUN!" and pounced on Knives' arm.  
  
Inu Yasha was snarling at Knives. "Midget?" he growled and cracked his knuckles. "I'll show you who's the midget!" He too jumped on Knives.  
  
Naoko, Meryl, Millie, and Anna watched in astonishment as the four grappled for each other. Surprisingly enough, Vash and Knives' supreme strength didn't seem to deter the rabid Sakura and the infuriated Inu Yasha.  
  
Naoko looked down at her tracking device. "What should I do, Stupid?" Naoko asked it.  
  
"I think you know what to do, you big genius you!" Stupid cried.  
  
Naoko looked at it askance. "I think we'll fix your flattering device later." She pulled out her giant butterfly net and flung it over the fighting people. "^________________^ GOTCHA!" she cried.  
  
"................ Naoko.......... you caught a fellow Bishie Captor," Sakura told her.  
  
Naoko's eyes widened. "Why, so I did!" She smiled again.  
  
Sakura sweatdropped.  
  
Inu Yasha scowled at her. "You also caught your Bishie tracker!"  
  
Naoko blinked. "And that's bad?"  
  
Knives took Vash's shoe and popped the knife out, cutting a hole in the net.  
  
Sakura watched him run out and hit her fist on the ground. "Naoko! Get this thing off of me! Knives is getting away!!"  
  
Naoko looked down at the net. "By golly, he is."  
  
Inu Yasha walked up to her and hit her head. "Baka!" He took her hand and started chasing after Knives.  
  
"KAWAII!!!!" Sakura yelled after them.  
  
"So..." Vash said.  
  
Sakura looked at him. "Oh, you're still here. Would you mind helping us catch your brother so we can take him to the Bishie Preserve where we can protect him. You can come too, if you'd like to stay with your brother."  
  
"SURE! But, on one condition. Do you have lots of water? And bubblegum?" he asked.  
  
"Yes! Now lets go get your brother!" Sakura replied and ran out the door with Vash following her.  
  
Naoko ran after Inu Yasha as fast as she could. She smiled with grim amusement as she remembered a similar circumstance a while ago. "Remembering a while ago..." Naoko said and glanced at her shoes. She tried to whack the front of one shoe against the back of her other shoe and succeeded in making the roller blades pop out, as well as almost tripping. "WHEEEEEEEEEE!!" She cried again, trying her best to balance on one foot while being pulled along by Inu Yasha. Knives led them into a church. Inu Yasha ran up the steps after him and attempted to pull Naoko after him, but only made her trip and fall down. Inu Yasha grumbled and helped her up, then walked into the church.  
  
Knives was staring at a ghostly man in a black suit.  
  
"Now, now," the man in black said. "What're you two.... erm... people.... doing chasing after a mass murderer like Knives Millions?"  
  
"Chapel..." Knives glared at his former Gung - Ho - Gun.  
  
Sakura and Vash burst into the church.  
  
"W- Wolfwood!" Vash cried. "You're alive!!" He started bawling.  
  
"Shut yer mouth, Tongari! (A/N: that means "Needle Noggin" Wolfwood's favorite nickname for Vash) I'm a ghost!"  
  
"You're still back!" Vash whimpered and broke out into fresh tears.  
  
Wolfwood sighed.  
  
Sakura looked on in confusion. "I thought when people died they went to heaven. What happened in your case? Were you rejected?"  
  
Wolfwood glared at her. "Haven't ya ever heard of 'ghosts'?"  
  
Naoko thought for a minute. "Ghost...." she said to herself. She pulled Stupid out. "Can we catch ghosts?" she asked it.  
  
"No. Not right now." Stupid replied.  
  
Wolfwood looked a bit shocked. "Catch... ghosts?" he asked.  
  
"If you catch him, then does that mean he will come back to life?!" Vash demanded.  
  
Wolfwood closed his eyes. He looked pained. "No, Tongari..."  
  
Vash sighed. "Oh well," he said.  
  
Inu Yasha walked up to Wolfwood. "Are you some sort of demon?" he asked Wolfwood.  
  
Wolfwood glared at him. "Why would *I* be a demon? I was a priest!"  
  
"You killed people," Naoko reminded him.  
  
"Maybe THAT'S why he isn't in heaven..." Sakura said thoughtfully.  
  
Wolfwood smoldered. "I TOLD YOU I WAS A GHOST!! THAT DOESNT MEAN I AM CONDEMMED TO HELL!!"  
  
Inu Yasha pounced on Wolfwood. Nothing happened. He simply flew through the ghost and fell on the floor.  
  
"AWWWWWWWW!! POOR PUPPY!!" Naoko simpered and ran over to Inu Yasha. The dog demon grimaced.  
  
"Well, we have to get going," Sakura said to Wolfwood. "And we're taking Vash and Knives with us.  
  
"I am not going with you, human!" Knives snarled. "I will stay right here!"  
  
"Well, well... WE CAN DEPRIVE YOU OF WATER AND FOOD!!" Sakura shouted.  
  
Naoko stared at her partner in awe. "She's standing up to Knives.." she thought, "HOW COOL!"  
  
Knives stared at Sakura and Sakura stared back. There were spine tingling chills running up and down the groups spines, even Wolfwood's.  
  
Sakura inched back, grabbed hold of Vash's arm, and flung him at Knives.  
  
"What did you do that for?" Vash wailed as he flew through the air and into Knives. Knives gave a loud grunt and fell to the ground with Vash sprawled on top of him. Both looked dazed.  
  
Sakura beamed. "Two birds with one stone!" she declared.   
  
Inu Yasha walked over to the unconscious plants and stared at them. Naoko joined him. She poked at Knives' eye. "I think he's unconscious," she said to Inu Yasha.  
  
"Naoko! Set up a teleport! Before it's too late!" Sakura said.   
  
Naoko sighed and pulled out Stupid. "Send us home," she said. 


	10. A Day in the Life of the Bishie and capt...

A few days after their adventure in Gunsmoke, Sakura and Naoko were sitting back in the Bishie Room, watching their two new bishies; one sulking, and the other tearing the cafe apart, looking for donuts.  
  
"I wonder when Ca and Mooie are going to come back?" Sakura asked her friend.  
  
"I don't know...." Naoko said. "We could go and call them... Bill said they left their number at the front desk." The two Bishie Captors got up and walked out of the room, followed by a highly suspicious Inu Yasha.  
  
"Don't worry!" Sakura assured him. "We won't leave you!"  
  
They both heard a scream and a rabid fan girl ran down the hallway, trying to glomp the dog demon bishie. Naoko hastily shoved Inu Yasha back into the Bishie Room and turned to face the fan.  
  
"HI!" Kagome said. "I just saw Inu Yasha! Can someone go and tell him I found a Shikon Shard?"  
  
"I thought I told you never to come here again!" Sakura shouted.  
  
A pair of scissors appeared in Sakura's hands.  
  
"You've done it now Kagome. You've gone an made me very, very angry..." Sakura said monotonously.  
  
Sakura jumped on Kagome's shoulders and hacked all the hair off.  
  
"AHAHAHHAHAH!!!" Sakura laughed.  
  
Kagome burst out crying and ran from the preserve.  
  
Naoko stopped and stared at her partner.  
  
"What?" Sakura asked. "She deserved it!"  
  
"...................................."  
  
Sakura shook her head and led Naoko to the front desk. "Do you have any idea when Mooie and Ca are supposed to get here?" she asked the receptionist.  
  
The woman looked at her calendar. "Well, they said they would arrive here around this time..."  
  
Suddenly, a plane flew overhead the Bishie Preserve.  
  
"What's that?" Naoko asked. "I didn't know we were under any flight routes...." the two Captors walked outside. Naoko looked up and saw two specks in the sky. "Look!" she said and pointed to the specks.  
  
Sakura looked up also. "What the......"  
  
The specks got closer and closer. Suddenly, the Captors realized that the specks were parachuters. As they got closer, the seemed to closely resemble two girls. On closer inspection, one was Mooie.  
  
"Well... they're almost here," Sakura said to Naoko.  
  
"Sakura! I want to parachute too!" Naoko cried happily.  
  
"Are you NUTS?!?!" Sakura cried.  
  
At that moment the two girls on the parachutes landed on top of the two captors.  
  
"Were HERE!" the girl who was obviously Ca announced to Mooie.  
  
@.@ *drool* (What should have been Naoko's response)  
  
"Have you found Knives yet?" Mooie asked Sakura, who was still conscious.  
  
"Yes........................" Sakura said, and tried to extract her arm from underneath Mooie's shoe.  
  
"Really?!" Mooie asked Naoko.  
  
"*drool*"  
  
"We would like to see him," Ca informed Sakura.  
  
"Alright," Sakura said.  
  
The two parachuters stepped off their landing humans and walked inside. Sakura dragged Naoko in after her.  
  
"I don't see him..." Mooie said.  
  
"That's because he is supposed to be in the Bishie Room," Sakura said. She spotted Inu Yasha, who was sitting on top of a shelf, watching them suspiciously. He looked rather beaten up.  
  
Sakura sighed. "I TOLD you we wouldn't leave you..." she told the dog demon. She dropped Naoko. "You take care of her. By the way, what happened to you?"  
  
"Kagome," Inu Yasha said simply.  
  
"That girl..." Sakura fumed.  
  
Inu Yasha jumped down and inspected the unconscious Naoko.  
  
"Ok," Sakura said as she turned back to the two girls. "If you'll follow me, I'll lead to Knives."  
  
Sakura walked down a large hall followed closely by the two girls. The came upon the Bishie Room and Sakura slowly opened the door. Mooie shoved the door open and glomped Knives.  
  
"You now have our services as Fangirl Control," Mooie said happily while she petted Knives.  
  
"Great," Sakura replied.  
  
She plopped herself down in one of the nearby chairs.  
  
Inu Yasha came in, carrying Naoko over his shoulder. "I can't do anything with her..." he said. He glanced at Mooie. "Aren't you supposed to stop that?" Knives' face was slowly turning blue.  
  
"She's part of staff now," Naoko said briskly.  
  
"Yay! You're back!' Sakura said.  
  
"When was I gone?" Naoko asked, looking confused.  
  
"Never mind..." Sakura told her.  
  
"What? what is she taking about?!!" Naoko started to press the hapless Inu Yasha.  
  
"Now..." Sakura started to brief the two new members of staff as Ca tried to pry Mooie off of Knives. "Visiting time for the fangirls happens from 1:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M. Your job is to make sure that the Bishies in the preserve aren't TOO bothered..."  
  
"WHAT is she talking about?" Naoko continued to bother Inu Yasha.  
  
Mooie finally released her grip on Knives and he wandered off to sit with his brother. A loud bell suddenly rang and Sakura's eyes got big.  
  
"FANGIRL TIME!" she shouted and ran to block the door for now.  
  
"Where do we go now?" Ca asked.  
  
"Anywhere near a bishie so you can protect him!" Sakura replied.  
  
Naoko hopped on Inu Yasha's back and he jumped off into the forest. Vash, Knives, and Q-Bert hid inside the cafe. Once again, Syaoran was left out in the open. There weren't too many other places to hide inside the room.  
  
Syaoran looked around desperately, then ran to the pool and tried his best to barricade the gate as soon as the fangirls broke through.  
  
Mooie and Ca stood in the middle of the room, with their hands on their hips.  
  
The crowd stopped and stared at the two girls.  
  
"Who are you?" one of the crowd asked.  
  
"We are the FANGRIL SQUAD!" Ca shouted and both girls broke into a pose.  
  
"Why don't we have a pose?" Sakura muttered from behind a chair.  
  
One of the girls heard Sakura and screamed. "A BISHIE!" the crowd stampeded over to Sakura's hiding spot.  
  
"She isn't a Bishie," another girl said, disappointed.  
  
Vash poked his eyes above the counter.  
  
"A BISHIE!" a third girl screamed. The stampede proceeded to knock down the cafe.  
  
"Oh... think how much money that is going to cost to repair..." Naoko muttered from her hiding spot in the trees.  
  
Sakura stared at the now flat cafe and the three bishie that were being glomped.  
  
"Poor bishie's..." she whispered. "MOOIE! CA! Why are you just standing there?!?! Go help!" she shouted.  
  
"Right!" Mooie replied and ran over to the once standing cafe and proceeded to peel the fangirls off.  
  
Sakura tiptoed over to the forest and hopped up into the tree next to Naoko.  
  
"They're pretty good, ne?" she asked in a hushed voice.  
  
"Yeah," Naoko said and watched the fangirls fight tooth and nail to keep from being pried off.  
  
Sakura glanced around. "Where's Inu Yasha?" Sakura asked.  
  
"He ran deeper into the forest. He's convinced that some fangirls can actually smell him..." Naoko replied.  
  
Sakura giggled. She looked back out at the mayhem. Girls were trying to climb over the wall into the pool area and poor Syaoran was cowering by the steps into the pool. She looked at the two fangirl enforcement members and noticed that they had disappeared. "Where did they go?" she whispered to her friend.  
  
As if to answer Sakura's question, the girls burst through the door into the Bishie Room. Mooie was carrying a giant rubber mallet and Ca had something in her hand. The Captors couldn't quite make out what it was.  
  
"Oh my..." Naoko said as Mooie screamed: "JUSTICE IS HERE!! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES, FANGIRLS! LOOK, BUT DON'T TOUCH THE BISHIES OF RARENESS!! THEY MIGHT BE TRAMUTISED!"  
  
"I think they already have..." Sakura pointed out.  
  
Ca started to laugh evilly. "BEWARE THE SPEZZIAL POINTY PENCIL OF DEATH!" she cried and held her object in the air. It shot out some red sparks.  
  
"Is that a wand..." Naoko asked.  
  
Just then, a fangirl ran into the forest. "Inu Yashaaaaaaaaa!!" she cried. "I KNOW you're here! I can SMELL you!!"  
  
Inu Yasha jumped onto Sakura and Naoko's branch from one above. He was completely terrified. "I told you they could smell me," he growled to Naoko.  
  
Naoko sweatdropped. Sakura looked down at the girl that was below them.  
  
"I'm sorry, but Inu Yasha is sick at the moment," Sakura said very convincingly.  
  
The girl didn't buy it. "You're lying."  
  
Inu Yasha pushed Sakura out of the tree, "You take care of this."  
  
She did a flip in the air and landed just in front of the fangirl. "I have official notice that Inu Yasha, Hanyou, First Class, Bishie Tracker, is out of commission for the time being to a very rare and bizarre disease called fleas," she said and held up a very official looking paper.  
  
The fangirl looked heart broken. "All right..." She walked off to the other girls and grabbed what looked like her friend and left.  
  
"Sakura-chan, I think you broke her fangirl spirit..." Naoko said.  
  
"That's ok... there's plenty more where it came from," Sakura replied.  
  
Inu Yasha was furious. "F-L-E-A-S?!" he shouted.  
  
"Quiet!" Sakura said. "Or all that work I went through will have been for nothing!"  
  
"Fleas!" Inu Yasha muttered.  
  
Naoko picked something from his long, white hair. "By, golly, I think he does!!"  
  
Inu Yasha whipped around to face her and glared at her, then at the black speck she was holding. "That's a piece of bark," he said.  
  
"No... it's moving! SEE!" and she threw it out towards the cafe. "Wow... it can jump a long way...."  
  
A loud bell sounded and all the fangirls were herded out of the bishie room. Sakura and Naoko slumped down into chairs when a loud voice came over the intercom.  
  
"All bishies please report to the cafeteria. I repeat, all bishies please report to the cafeteria. Thank you."  
  
The two new bishies turned to Sakura and Naoko.  
  
"Do they have doughnuts?" Vash asked.  
  
"Probably... come on," Sakura replied and got up and walked out of the room followed closely by the other bishies.  
  
Naoko led Inu Yasha out while they were arguing about whether or not Inu Yasha really had fleas or not.  
  
"Ok, you dinner today is... doughnut flavored ramen..." Sakura said and took a double take. "DOUGHNUT FLAVORED RAMEN!??!?"   
  
"YAY!" Vash cried. 


	11. The Herd of Wild Bishies

Sakura and Naoko were in the locker room, both bored. Naoko was walking along the line of lockers and opening the top row as she walked past. Sakura was busy trying to find some way to make cute costumes out of the clothes they already had. "If only they had pink..." she muttered to herself.  
  
"WHAT?" Naoko yelled from one end of the locker row.  
  
"NOTHING!" Sakura yelled back. Naoko ran back towards Sakura, closing all the lockers she had opened while walking in the opposite direction and making a huge din. "That was fun!" she said.  
  
Sakura continued to dig through the clothes and mutter to herself.  
  
Bill came rushing in. "I have urgent news!" he wheezed.  
  
"More urgent than the fact you have asthma?" Naoko asked.  
  
Bill glared at her. "No! There will be a HUGE herd of wild, unregistered bishies stampeding three miles north of here in a few hours!"  
  
Sakura looked up from her pile of clothes. "unregistered bishies you say?"  
  
Naoko frowned. "I'm not sure I want to..." she said. "Remember the trouble that we had with Q-Bert?"  
  
"Yeah...." Sakura said. "He refused to accept he was a bishie. We had to kidnap him...."  
  
Bill's eyes bugged out. "You KIDNAPPED him?"  
  
"Yes, is that wrong?" Naoko asked.  
  
Bill was speechless.  
  
Sakura looked at Naoko then back at Bill. "Really... is it that wrong?"  
  
"We could be shut down!" Bill started to ramble.  
  
Naoko looked at Sakura. "But we were doing our job!" she said.  
  
"I'll be put in jail!" Bill continued.  
  
"But, he doesn't seem to hate it here.." Sakura said thoughtfully.  
  
"Hmm.... maybe we should go ask him?" Naoko asked.  
  
"Do we have time?" Sakura said and looked at her watch. "We have about 2 and a half hours... I think we can make it..."  
  
The two captors walked off to the Bishie room, leaving Bill to himself.  
  
"AND I COULD BE GIVEN THE DEATH PENTALTY!" he shrieked.  
  
Sakura rolled her eyes. "Honestly..." Naoko stopped to examine a small black speck she thought to be a flea, having never given up her argument with Inu Yasha, while Sakura poked her head in the door. "Hey, is Q-Bert here?" she asked Syaoran, who was walking to the pool in a swimming suit. Sakura tried her best not to oggle.  
  
"I haven't seen him. Why do you ask?" was Syaoran's reply.  
  
"Something to do I guess," Sakura said trying to look away from Syaoran. Her eyes kept wandering back to him though.  
  
She looked to the remains of the cafe and spotted Q-Bert standing there. She smiled and walked over.  
  
"Heyya, Q-Bert. How's the preserve going for you?" she asked.  
  
"Erm.... fine I guess," Q-Bert said and turned a bit red.  
  
"Well, that's good!" Sakura said. "Because we accidentally let it slip to Bill that we kidnapped you, and, well, you know him!"  
  
Q-Bert gave a little laugh. "Yeah, I know..." the two continued to talk for a while.  
  
Naoko suddenly burst into the room, holding the black speck she found. "INU YASHA!" she bellowed, "I FOUND A FLEA!"  
  
Inu Yasha poked his head out from underneath the roof of the cafe. "Oh really?" he said. He jumped down. "Let's have a look at it, shall we?" He walked over to her and inspected the tiny thing she held up. "..................... its a piece of dirt."  
  
"But it's black," Naoko told him.  
  
"Dirt can be black," Inu Yasha responded.  
  
Naoko noticed that Sakura and Q-Bert were talking to each other, and that both looked a bit red in the face. "OOH!" she squealed and grabbed Inu Yasha and gave him a crushing hug in her glee. "I see a budding romance!"  
  
Inu Yasha looked over. "If you say so," he said.  
  
"You, my friend," Naoko said. "Need to learn about the subtle things in life..." she flicked the piece of dirt at him and tiptoed off to spy on the two.  
  
Naoko came up behind the two very quietly. Neither of them noticed. The other bishies in the preserve noticed and tiptoed over too.  
  
"So... you really like video games do you?" Sakura asked, to make sure she had heard him correctly.  
  
"Oh yeah! Especially this one called Phantasy Star Online," Q-Bert replied.  
  
Naoko noticed the other bishies around and gave them a signal to be very still. The bishies nodded.  
  
"Erm.... so..........." Q-Bert said.  
  
At that moment, Bill burst into the room. Naoko glared. "He had to at THAT moment," she muttered. Vash looked slightly disappointed. The others walked away.  
  
Sakura stood up hurriedly. "Yesh?" she asked, blushing slightly.  
  
Q-Bert slunk away, looking pissed.  
  
"What are you two DOING?" Bill bellowed. All the bishies stopped what they were doing to watch. "there are UNTAMED bishies STAMPEDING in a few minutes!!"  
  
Naoko looked at her watch. "More like 30, if you ask me."  
  
Bill started hyperventilating.  
  
"Naoko... I don't think you should have done that..." Sakura said, slowly backing away from Bill.  
  
The other bishies back up too, but Naoko walked up to Bill and slapped him on the back.  
  
"You okay there? Did you have something caught in your throat?" she asked.  
  
Sakura fell over anime style.  
  
Bill's face turned purple and he started to swell. "GET.... OUT... THERE... AND... CATCH THOSE... BISHIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" he shrieked.  
  
Sakura and Naoko cowered. "I'm sorry!" Sakura cried and the two scuttled out the door, followed closely by Inu Yasha.  
  
Q-Bert, Syaoran, Vash, and Knives glared at Bill.  
  
"How can you yell at your employees?" Syaoran asked.  
  
"They're nice... a bit dense, but nice," Q-Bert said. "And Sakura's cute." he added in his head.  
  
Vash began to cry. "They were the ones that gave me Doughnut flavored ramen... you can't yell at them," he sobbed.  
  
Knives elbowed his brother.  
  
Bill glared back at them. "They weren't doing their job, that's why."  
  
"Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez," Sakura said to Naoko and Inu Yasha as they walked towards the mailbox. "Bill was in a bad mood........."  
  
"He's craaaaazy," Naoko said and looked back at the door of the Bishie Room in awe.  
  
"Feh!" Inu Yasha said. "Let's just go."  
  
"Stupid!" Naoko said to the device. "Set up a teleport!"  
  
"OKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!" Stupid said cheerfully.  
  
Inu Yasha grimaced. "That thing is going to die."  
  
The three stuck their hands in the mailbox and they were transported away. When they arrived at the place that the stampede was going to pass though, a very small town, no one was outside.  
  
"This is like a country western movie when the bad guy comes to town," Sakura said and watched a woman pull back the curtains of her window a bit, then close them hurriedly when she saw Sakura watching her.  
  
"I wonder..." Naoko said. She marched up and pounded on a random door. "Excuse me!!" She yelled. "But I need to talk to someone!!" She waited for a minute. Nothing happened. "Either open this door or I am going to pound it in!!" The door was opened quickly.  
  
"What?" a woman hissed at them as soon as the trio was inside.  
  
"Why is everyone's door closed?" Sakura asked.  
  
Inu Yasha was wandering around the room, looking at objects. The woman was watching him fearfully.  
  
"Because there are thousands of Bishies stampeding our way!" she said. "Don't you know?!"  
  
"Of course!" Naoko said. "That's why we're here! We're Bishie Captors!"  
  
That was the wrong thing to say. With another frightened look, she forced the heroines and their personal bishie out of her house and slammed the door.  
  
Inu Yasha fell over and then both Sakura and Naoko fell on top of him.  
  
"Owwwwww..." Sakura cried, rubbing her head because it hit the hilt of Inu Yasha's Testuiga.  
  
There was a loud thundering sound coming and the ground started to quake. Sakura and Naoko scrambled to stand up but fell over again because of the violent tremors.  
  
"Naoko... this might be a bit harder than expected." Sakura called over the noise.  
  
"Nah, we'll just talk to their leader," Naoko called back.  
  
Over the horizon hundreds of bodies appeared and were approaching rapidly.  
  
Naoko and Sakura started to crawl towards the mass of moving bodies. Inu Yasha staggered after them.   
  
"Hello there!" Naoko screamed over the sound of the running bishies. She waved.  
  
Sakura couldn't see how the bishies could have heard her, but the one in the front started to run towards her and the rest followed.   
  
"Yes?" the Head Wild Bishie asked her. He had dark skin and dark hair. Naoko was goggling at him, so Sakura took the lead. Inu Yasha snorted in disgust at Naoko's awe.  
  
"Hi!" Sakura said. "Did you know that you are an unregistered bishie? Along with the rest of the bishies in your herd?"  
  
The bishie looked back at the crowd, who were stamping their feet and looking around nervously. "Yeah, I guess so," he said. "Why though?"  
  
"Weeeeeeeeell..." Sakura began but was cut off by Naoko.  
  
"Wecomefromabishiepreserveandwe'dliketotakeyouallback!" she shouted very quickly.  
  
The head bishie turned to Sakura, "What did she just say?"  
  
"She said that we come from a bishie preserve and that we'd like to take you all back," Sakura replied.  
  
Naoko blushed.  
  
"What's a "bishie preserve?" head bishie asked.  
  
"Well, it's a place where all of you can live in peace... except for the fan girl time when millions of girls come and hang all over you, but that part doesn't matter. We have very great service for you and you accommodations are very nice," Sakura answered smiling.  
  
The head bishie seemed to be thinking because there was a very long silence. 


	12. The Herd of Wild Bishies

The bishie continued to think for a bit longer.  
  
"What's TAKING so long?!" Naoko muttered to Sakura.  
  
"I don't know!!" Sakura replied.  
  
Inu Yasha, who had a short attention span, was starting to examine all the bishies in the stampede. "Miroku!" he cried. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Oh... its a good chance to meet girls..." Miroku said.  
  
Sakrua turned to him. "What about Sango?"  
  
Miroku had the grace to look embarrased. "Well, you see........." he said. "I've had enough!" Naoko shouted and threw her butterfly net over the head bishie. ^____^ "You're caught!"  
  
Sakura looked very startled for a moment then looked at the head bishie. His eyes were very wide and all of the other bishies were staring at Naoko.  
  
"Um... ok..." the head bishie replied.  
  
Naoko led him to the mailbox and all of the other bishies followed.  
  
Sakura was shocked that all the bishies went that easily. InuYasha looked somewhat heartbroken and Miroku watched all of the bishies go then turned to Sakura.  
  
"Are there cute girls at the preserve?" he asked.  
  
Sakura gave him a dirty look, "I asked 'what happened to Sango'..."  
  
"Well, you see..." Miroku started.  
  
WHACK! A giant boomerang hit Miroku on the head and he fell over. A furious Sango marched up. "Just WHAT do you think you are doing, Hoshi-sama!?" she demanded.  
  
"Ahh... Sango-san," Miroku said with a dopey smile on his face. "You see.."  
  
"Don't start with me!" Sango cried, grabed the collar of his shirt, and dragged him off.  
  
"Well then," Sakrua said, staring after them. "That was nice...."  
  
"C'mon!" Naoko pressed. "Before they run away!"  
  
Inu Yasha looked at the docile bishies. "I think that's the last thing on their mind..."  
  
Sakura made her way through the herd and stood next to Naoko.  
  
"Ok, now, to get back to the preserve you must stick your hand in this mailbox," Naoko instructed. "Sakura, can you and InuYasha wait for all of the bishies to get through before you come?" she asked as she turned to her partner.  
  
"Yeah.." Sakura replied.  
  
"Great. Okay, now form a single file line and do as you were instructed," Naoko shouted out.  
  
One by one all of the bishies disappeared through mailbox and appeared in the preserve. Just as Sakura and InuYasha were about to leave a little boy walked up behind Sakura and tugged on her shirt.  
  
"Excuse me... but could I go with you?" the little boy asked.  
  
Sakura blinked in confusion. "Wouldn't your mommy be worried?"  
  
"I don't have a mommy. I'm orphaned." he replied.  
  
Sakura turned to InuYasha and he shrugged.  
  
"Okio! You can come," Sakura said. "Just don't get in anyone's way."  
  
The little boy smiled and stuck his hand into the mailbox with Sakura and InuYasha. When they got back to the preserve the teleport room was packed with bishies that didn't know where to go.  
  
Naoko checked to make sure that Sakrua and Inu Yasha had arrived. She took her net off the head bishie and raised it in the air. "Bishies!" she cried. "Follow me!"  
  
"I feel like I'm on a tour," one bishie said to another.  
  
"Excuse me," the head bishie said to Naoko. "but what is the point of this?"  
  
"So that we can make money," Naoko told him.  
  
The head bishie looked a bit dissapointed. "Oh." he said. "Well, my name is Tom."  
  
Naoko patted him on the head and beamed. "I'll call you Apricots."  
  
When Naoko had led them all to the bishie room Sakura walked up to her followed closely by the little boy. Naoko looked at the kid.  
  
"Sakura... who the heck is that?" she asked.  
  
"Oh," Sakura smiled, "he asked to come along. I was thinking that we could raise him to be the best bishie there is... since he's an orphan and all."  
  
Naoko looked from the boy to Sakura and back. "Oik!"  
  
The boy smiled and walked over to the cafe. Q-Bert walked out carrying a tray of doughnuts for Vash, but dropped them when he saw all of the new bishies, apparently he hadn't noticed them all come in.  
  
"Um... what's this?" he asked, as the crowd of bishies, about 20 strong, wandered around.  
  
"We are a group of wild bishies that were just caught," Tom / Apricots told Q-Bert.  
  
"Oh....." Q-Bert said. He looked at Apricots apprasingly. "Since you're unregistered, Naoko named you, didn't she?"  
  
Apricots looked at Naoko, who was busy with Sakrua renaming all the Bishies and recording them. "How did you know?" he asked.  
  
Q-Bert grimaced. "She named me Q-Bert. My name was er! i mean is Phillip."  
  
"My name is Tom," Apricots told him.  
  
Naoko and Sakrua marched over. "What rank should we give him?" Sakrua asked.  
  
"First Class Loveable!" Naoko shouted right away. "That was a stupid question."  
  
"I don't know about 'Loveable'..." Sakura said quietly.  
  
Naoko glared at her. "How could he not be?!"  
  
"Well... I just don't see what's so loveable about him... he's just another bishie," Sakura explained.  
  
Naoko hit Sakura's head with one of the mallets and she swayed a little and fell over.  
  
"First....... class......... loveable........." Naoko typed into the record.  
  
Q-Bert bent down. "Are you ok, Sakrua?"  
  
Sakrua simply stayed unconcious. Apricots looked slightly startled. "Um... is that allowed?" he asked Naoko.  
  
"When she refuses to give the correct title to a bishie, yes," Naoko told him.  
  
Apricots slowly backed away from Naoko. Q-Bert dragged the unconcious Sakura away from her violent partner and splashed some water on her face.  
  
"Now..." Naoko said putting the record down and looking up. "Huh... where'd Apricots go?"  
  
Sakura blinked awake as she felt the water running down her face. She glared at Naoko and grabbed another mallet.  
  
"Naoko!! You're going to pay for this unsitely bump on my head!!" she screamed and charged at Naoko.  
  
Naoko stared at Sakura as she ran madly, swinging her mallet. Just in the nick of time, Apricots grabbed Naoko and pulled her out of harm's way.  
  
Bill marched in, following the sound of Sakura's screaming. "What's going on here?" he asked.  
  
Sakrua and Naoko took one big step backwards. "Um........... nothing!" Sakrua said.  
  
Bill looked at them suspicously. "Ok.... well, i have some bad news. It seems that the news of you girls has spread. There hasn't been a bishie sighting in hours."  
  
"Well, then, we'll just use the tracker!" Naoko said brightly.  
  
Bill closed his eyes. "That won't work unless the Bishies are being seen."  
  
Sakura dropped the mallet behind her. It just so happened to land on InuYasha's foot.  
  
"Does... does that mean we're out of a job?" Sakura asked.  
  
All of the bishies in the room froze where they were, waiting anxiously for Bill's answer.  
  
"For the time being, yes," Bill replied quietly. 


	13. The Town of the Bishies

A couple of weeks later, Sakura and Naoko were sitting in their rooms, dejected.  
  
"What do we do now?" Naoko sighed, staring at the tracking device.  
  
"If you would have only asked me earlier, silly!" Stupid cried.  
  
"Huh?" Asked Sakura, who was laying on her bed, upside-down.  
  
"Why, there's a Bishie town in northern Japan!" Stupid told them, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.  
  
"oh............" Naoko said. Then it dawned on her.  
  
Sakura and Naoko got their equipment, grabbed Inu Yasha and went to the mailbox outside. They stuck their hands in but weren't transported.  
  
"Stupid... are you sure you set up a teleport?" Naoko asked.  
  
"Yes, I'm positive. It's registered at being set up," Stupid replied.  
  
"Erm.......... perhaps you should try again?" Sakura suggested.  
  
"Well, ok I guess," Stupid said and was silent for a moment. "Teleport set up!"  
  
The three stuck their hands in again. They were whisked away, but to their dismay, the found out the opening was boarded up.  
  
"Now what do we do?!" wailed Sakura.  
  
"Feh... let me take care of it!" Inu Yasha said. He jumped up onto the ledge and started clawing at the wood. It was enchanted, so it was harder to break than the usual wood. After about two hours, Inu Yasha finally made a hole large enough for the group to fit through. "C'mon!" he said to the others and jumped through the hole. The two girls followed them.  
  
When they were out of the box, they met an unpleasant sight. Every bishie known to mankind, plus two, were pointing some sort of weapon at the trio.  
  
Sakura and Naoko looked at each other and then back at the mob of bishies.  
  
"Can we help you?" Naoko asked.  
  
The bishies held their stance unwavering.  
  
Sakura carefully set her mallet down and put her hands up. She cleared her throat and broke out into song.  
  
"Ai ai ai, ai ai ai, ai ai ai, where's my samurai?"  
  
"Did someone ask for a samurai?" a voice called from the mob.  
  
Sakura blinked. "Not really... it's a song!"  
  
Kenshin Himura, the Batousai emerged from the crowd. Sakura stared at him.  
  
"Such.... long red hair... and ooooooooooh! lookie! he has a sword!" Sakura cried happily.  
  
She ran toward him but one of the bishie hit her with a stick.  
  
"OWWWWCH!" Sakura cried.  
  
"Can't we just work this out?" Naoko asked.  
  
"Feh!" Inu Yasha snorted. "Let me take care of it!!" He rushed forwards. Suddenly, Sesshoumaru stepped out from the crowd. Inu Yasha skidded to a halt. "Sesshoumaru...." he growled.  
  
"Lowly brother," Sesshoumaru agnowleged Inu Yasha's existence.  
  
Sakura sat on the ground, rubbing her head. She glanced around the crowd, then saw Rin. She gave an evil grin, dashed forwards, caught Rin, and ran away.  
  
"Sessoumaru-sama!!" Rin cried as she was spirited away and Sesshoumaru looked on with indifference.  
  
"um........... That was NOT a good idea...." Naoko informed the crowd.  
  
Sakura put a hand over Rin's mouth to keep her quiet, but it was all in vain. Sesshoumaru and his speed quickly caught up.  
  
"Uh oh..." Sakura thought as Sesshoumaru stopped directly in front of her.  
  
Sakura slowed down to a stop and stared at Sesshoumaru.  
  
"You're... not going to do anything to me... are you?" Sakura asked.  
  
Inu Yasha came up beside Sakura and unsheathed his sword.  
  
"Why do you protect these disgusting human?" Sesshoumaru asked.  
  
Rin looked up at Sesshoumaru, she was a human, and Sesshoumaru just called humans disgusting. Her eyes filled with tears.  
  
"Sesshoumaru-sama I hate you!" she cried.  
  
Sesshoumaru turned to her with a small amount of shock on his face.  
  
Sakura and Inu Yasha looked on in confusion. Apparently Rin wasn't as young as they thought she was, she had grown up some and her mind had developed more.  
  
"There is no way out of this Sesshoumaru! We will fight!" Inu Yasha shouted.  
  
Sesshoumaru drew his sword and both brothers prepared to fight.  
  
"KAZE NO KIZU!!" Inu Yasha yelled.  
  
He unleashed the Scar of the Wind and Sesshoumaru narrowly dodged it. Inu Yasha tried again and this time he caught his brother dead on. And there Sesshoumaru lay, completely unconscious and all of the other bishies looking on with horror. Sesshoumaru had been their leader... and now he was unconscious.  
  
Naoko gave an insane giggle and rushed in front of Inu Yasha, who was intending to put an end to the ALL-MIGHTY-FLUFFY-sama, and threw a butterfly net over him. "Yay!" She squealed. "We've got another bishie!!"  
  
Rin marched up. "You're not going to hurt him, are you?"  
  
"I thought you hated him," Sakura said, surprised.  
  
"I'm a teenager.... I can do that..."  
  
Naoko thought for a minute. "I'm a teenager, but I don't do that..."  
  
Sakura looked off into the distance. "Hey, Heero Yuy is coming..." she said.  
  
"I HATE HIM!!" Naoko screamed and pointed towards him. "INU YASHA!! SIC!"  
  
Inu Yasha looked at Sakura, who shrugged. He started to turn towards Heero, but Naoko beat him to it.  
  
Contrary to popular belief, Heero was not as big and bad as he made out to be. On seeing a rabid Bishie Captor speeding towards him, he turned and hi- tailed it into an alleyway, where he crouched, cowering from the wrath of Naoko. Sakura, who was dragging the unconscious Sesshoumaru with the help of Rin and Inu Yasha, followed, along with the rest of the bishie mob.  
  
"YOU ARE STOOPAD!!" Naoko shrieked at the terrified bishie. "I SHOULD KILL YOU!!"  
  
"Noooooooooo!!" Heero cried. "I'm just an innocent Bishie!!"  
  
Naoko raised her mallet menacingly. "OH REALLY?" she cried.  
  
"Naoko, NO!" Sakura yelled and grabbed Naoko's arm. Naoko turned to look at her friend, startled. "Some people consider him a bishie..." she reminded her friend gently.  
  
Naoko turned and looked at Heero, who looked as if he wished he were invisible. "Well........ I guess......" she said. She lowered her mallet and pulled out another butterfly net. "TO THE BISHIE PRESERVE YOU GO!!" Naoko declared and caught him.  
  
"hey! why should I go?" Heero demanded.  
  
"there will be people to keep Relena under control...." Sakura told him.  
  
Heero brightened up. "Alright!! I'll go!" he said.  
  
"Two bishies in one day... this is good," Sakura commented still holding a death grip on Sesshoumaru's arm.  
  
"We have our job back!" Naoko cried happily.  
  
The left the ally and headed back in the general direction of the mailbox. Unfortunately, with Sakura and Naoko's bad sense of direction... they all got lost. They began to walk past strange old buildings that seemed to moan as you walked by.  
  
"Naoko-chan... I don't like this place," Sakura whimpered.  
  
Naoko looked around trying to find something that was familiar but with no avail. She and Sakura stopped and the bishies crowed around them.  
  
"Do any of you know where we are?" Sakura asked, eyeing the nearby buildings that seemed to be full of watchful eyes.  
  
Kenshin, who had made his way to the front of the mob, spoke first. "I don't have any idea, that I don't."  
  
Sakura looked at some of the other bishies, but they all hung their heads. Sakura's eyes widened. "Inu Yasha, do you think you can sniff the mailbox out?"  
  
"Feh, I can't find non-living objects," he snorted.  
  
"I believe you are forgetting one person," a voice from Naoko's pocket called.  
  
"STUPID!" Sakura and Naoko shouted at the same time.  
  
"Do you know where we are?" Sakura asked quickly.  
  
"Nope, not a clue," Stupid replied.  
  
Naoko twitched. "Then, why did you speak up?" she asked.  
  
"Um... because I'm nice and trying to cheer you up?" Stupid suggested.  
  
"That didn't work," Sakura said and looked around. "It sounds like the buildings are trying to talk to us........" she said.  
  
"Um.... hello?" Naoko asked the nearest building.  
  
"Yeeeeeesssssssssssssssssssss?" the building asked in a mystical voice.  
  
"Um............. do you know where we can find a mailbox?" she said.  
  
"No, I'm sorry," the building responded. "I was built before mail."  
  
"uh.. ok," Naoko said and turned to her friends. "Well, now what do we do?"  
  
"Well, we could always try screaming for help," Sakura suggested.  
  
"Help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Sakura and Naoko shouted together.  
  
"Help is on the way!!!!" two voices from the air called.  
  
Sakura and Naoko up and saw two people falling from the sky.  
  
"M...mooie?" Sakura called.  
  
"Ca?" Naoko asked.  
  
"'Tis your Fan girl Control on their way to save yooooooooooooooooou!" Mooie yelled.  
  
Once again the two girls landed on top of the bishie captors, but this time Naoko wasn't knocked out.  
  
"Ouch..." Sakura mumbled.  
  
The two girls quickly got off and inspected the bishies that were around them.  
  
"You two have been working quite hard, haven't you?" Mooie said.  
  
"Actually... we've only caught two of them... the rest are just following us," Naoko informed her.  
  
"Anyway, Sakura, Q-Bert wants to know when you are going to get back, and Vash has been crying for you both all day," Ca said.  
  
"Well... we'd go back if we could find a mailbox..." Sakura replied.  
  
"That's what this is for," Mooie said and pulled out a cell phone.  
  
"Um... that's for calling people." Sakura said.  
  
"I know." Mooie said and dialed the number of one of her friends.  
  
"Ignore her," Ca-chan said. She pulled out a portable mailbox. "This is how you can get home."   
  
"Yay!" the Bishie Captors cried.  
  
"Teleport set up!" Stupid cried.  
  
"Somehow I feel like this is going all too well........" Naoko said as she stepped up to the mailbox.   
  
Just as she said that, Sesshoumaru woke up and broke free of the net. He grabbed Rin and disappeared. All other bishies except Heero followed him, cheering at his escape.   
  
Sakura glared at Naoko.  
  
"Um......... there was no wood nearby?" Naoko suggested and stuck her hand in the teleport quickly.  
  
Sakura sighed and instructed Heero on how to teleport. Inu Yasha joined them and the four were taken back to the preserve. 


	14. Another Day in the Preserve

Once the group reached the preserve they walked to the bishie room and showed Heero his sleeping quarters.  
  
"Naoko..." Sakura whispered once everything was very quiet.  
  
"Yeah?" Naoko replied.  
  
"Ca-chan's here... but where did Mooie go?" she asked.  
  
"BUT KNIVES!!! Please don't go!" Mooie's voice traveled over the room.  
  
Knives walked out with a big tear in his shirt and Mooie came out after him. Sakura stared in shock.  
  
"What the hell are you doing, Mooie?!" Naoko shouted.  
  
"Humph, like I'd tell you," she replied.  
  
"She's trying to seduce me," Knives told her.  
  
"But you KNOW you love me, you're just hiding it," Mooie cried.  
  
Naoko just closed her eyes in pain. "You're supposed to be PROTECTING the bishies, not HARRASING them.........."  
  
For once in his life, Knives looked as if he were about to agree with a human.  
  
"Don't MAKE me staple myself to your leg, Knives!" Mooie warned, which just furthered Knives' poor opinion of the human race.  
  
Vash wandered from the front door. "There's this girl that calls herself 'Portal Girl' that wants to see you guys..........." he told them.  
  
Naoko, Mooie, and Ca looked confused. Knives looked indifferent. Sakura, however, seemed to know what was going on. "Oh yeah! She called here a while ago. She said she's been searching for this place for a while........... She wants to work here."  
  
Portal Girl burst in. (sorry about no description.... the authoresses don't know what she looks like) She was holding a bazooka. "Give me a job, or meet Spike!! Because he's dead! And, I'm going to kill you!................ and........ um....... because this is a killer bazooka!! YEAH!"  
  
Sakura and Naoko glanced at each other. Ca turned to a wall and started scribbling. "yes....... 2 plus pie equals ice cream....... yes.............."  
  
Sakura glanced toward Ca and the wall and saw hundreds of equations all resulting in ice cream.  
  
Naoko walked over to Portal Girl and inspected her. "Well, I suppose you can be a greeter..."  
  
"And what EXACTLY does a 'greeter' do?" Portal asked.  
  
"Well... I'm not really sure... but the roster says we need a greeter," Naoko replied.  
  
Sakura sweatdropped; only her partner wouldn't know what they do.  
  
"Naoko... what do greeters usually do?" Sakura asked.  
  
"Greet people," Naoko replied.  
  
"That's what she wanted to know," Sakura told her.  
  
"Well, this is a bishie preserve! Maybe things are done differently here!" Naoko argued.  
  
"I'm pretty sure that it's universal," Sakura told her friend.  
  
Portal Girl looked mildly interested. "Can I use my bazooka?" she asked.  
  
"The best way to greet people!" Mooie informed her, armed with a glue stick.  
  
"What's that for?" Vash asked her.  
  
"Knives," Mooie said simply.  
  
The said bishie, who was staring at Ca's equations, looked up. He glared. "And what are you going to do? Human?"  
  
Mooie gave him THE LOOK. "Make you eat it..." she said. "IM GOING TO GLUE YOUR SHIRT TO A WALL, OF COURSE!!"  
  
Naoko face faulted. Sakura looked shocked. Ca merely spread her arms and shrieked "NOT MY EQUATIONS!"  
  
Every bishie that was in the room turned toward the wall. Ca was trying to spread her arms out to cover all of the equations, but to no avail. Her arms weren't long enough.  
  
Mooie uncapped the glue stick and grabbed Knives' shirt. "Come along..."  
  
"Uh... Mooie... I don't think you should do that...." Sakura said quietly.  
  
Just then a large gust of wind blew a girl in through the window. She seemed to be unconscious but not injured. Sakura looked shocked. Mooie let go of Knives and turned to the girl.  
  
"Um... is she alright?" Apricots asked as he walked out of the cafe, followed by Q-Bert, and the little orphan.  
  
Sakura walked over to the girl and shook her gently. "Hello? Wake up."  
  
The girl blinked open.  
  
"HIKARU-CHAN?!?!" Sakura shouted shocked.  
  
"ONEE-SAN?!?!" Hikaru shouted back.  
  
Both girls backed up in shock.  
  
"What are you doing here?!? I asked you first!" both girl said simultaneously.  
  
Naoko blinked in confusion. "What's going on...?"  
  
Sakura turned to Naoko "This is my little sister, Hikaru. I haven't seen her in a while, ever since she moved out with mom."  
  
"Oh!! Ok."  
  
Hikaru stood up and stared around. "How did I get here?" she mused.  
  
"You flew in, Vash told her.  
  
"You look familiar, young lady...." she told him thoughtfully.  
  
"um... he's a guy," Naoko told her.  
  
Apricots and Q-Bert exchanged a look. Sakura spotted it. "What, now that you were both unregistered bishies, you have some secret club or something?"  
  
Apricots looked at Sakura steadily. "You are very perceptive," he told her.  
  
Naoko just noticed him. "HI Apricots!!!" she beamed. "I've been meaning to ask you!! Do you have any special talents?"  
  
"I can do this," Apricots said and stared at her. Naoko swooned and fainted. "Look amazingly handsome," he explained to the others.  
  
Hikaru bent down to examine Naoko. "I think she's sick..." She said vaguely.  
  
Ca looked at Naoko. "PERFECT!" she screeched. "JUST RIGHT!! EXACLTY WHAT I NEEDED!!" she grabbed Naoko's collar and dragged her off somewhere.  
  
"HELLO!!!" Portal girl shouted. "Where am I supposed to be?!?"  
  
The group turned towards her, they seemed to have forgotten she was there.  
  
"Oh... tell the lady in the front that you are the new greeter and she'll give you your uniform and you equipment," Sakura told her and went after her partner.  
  
The little orphan boy ran after her, followed by Hikaru, who was followed closely by Inu Yasha, who was followed by Apricots and Q-Bert. The rest of the group stayed behind and Mooie once again brought out the glue stick.  
  
"Sakura-onne-san," the little boy called after her.  
  
"ONEE-SAN!" Hikaru shouted.  
  
"Stupid..." Inu Yasha mumbled.  
  
"What?!?!" Sakura shouted in reply turning to face them.  
  
"WATCH OUT!" Hikaru said just as Sakura ran into one of the trees that was in the forest.  
  
Sakura fell down on the ground. Inu Yasha looked down on her with pity.  
  
Sakura got up and rubbed her head. "Oy....." she said.  
  
They heard a scream. "That sounded like Naoko-chan," Vash said thoughtfully.  
  
Everyone else looked at each other. "NAOKO!" they shouted.  
  
Ca bounded out in front of them. "I DID IT!! I REALLY AND TRULY DID IT!!" she cackled. She scampered back towards the sobbing Naoko. The group minus Portal Girl followed her.  
  
When they reached Naoko, she was crying tears of happiness. There were thousands of ice cream tubs everywhere.  
  
Sakura sweatdropped. "Only Naoko would cry because of ice cream..."  
  
Apricots walked over to her. "You're okay, right?" he asked.  
  
Naoko oggled at him and nodded turning a slight shade of red.  
  
Sakura hugged Inu Yasha tightly, "I see a budding romance!"  
  
Q-Bert's eye twitched as he watched Sakura hug Inu Yasha.  
  
Naoko proceeded to stuff her face in the ice cream.  
  
Ca beamed. "My weapon is complete," she said.  
  
Naoko choked. "You poisoned this!! Didn't you?"  
  
"No, no, of course not!" Ca said, twisting her hands and watching Naoko eagerly.  
  
Naoko stared at Ca, then keeled over, snoring loudly. Everyone else sweatdropped.  
  
"Erm........ should we leave her here?" Q-Bert asked.  
  
"ILL STAND WATCH!" Vash shouted and saluted.  
  
"You'll do no such thing!" Sakura slapped him. "Pervert.........."  
  
KABOOM!!!  
  
Everyone looked towards the entrance. "Uh oh..........." Sakura said.  
  
"Baka...." Inu Yasha said. "You let that Portal Girl keep her bazooka.........."  
  
The group, minus Vash, who was dragged out after everyone else had left by an irate Sakura, rushed to the entrance. On the way, they passed a pissed Knives who was stapled to the wall and a giggling Mooie who was petting him.  
  
When they reached the entrance, they saw Portal Girl holding a smoking bazooka and a fangirl cowering in the corner, crying.  
  
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!?!" Sakura shouted at her.  
  
"I greeted her," Portal replied beaming happily.  
  
Sakura rushed over to the cowering fangirl. "Are you all right?"  
  
The girl looked up and grabbed Sakura's collar, "You are the perfect sacrifice!"  
  
The girl dragged the screaming Sakura out the front door and to a nearby car.  
  
"SAKURA!!!" Q-Bert shouted.  
  
Inu Yasha started after the car but Q-Bert shoved him out of the way. "I'M rescuing her, thank you very much."  
  
"But, you can't fight!" Inu Yasha said faintly.  
  
Naoko wandered in. "What did I miss?"  
  
Everyone sweatdropped.  
  
"Aren't you glad I greeted her?" Portal Girl demanded.  
  
"Sakura-chan was kidnapped!" Vash wailed to Naoko.  
  
"Well, good for her!" Naoko said. "I'm glad she's finally getting some action!"  
  
*~*  
  
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU WEIRDO?" Sakura demanded of her captor.  
  
The girl glared at her. "Sacrificing you, you idiot!"  
  
Sakura huffed. "That's not very polite! I don't even know you very well!"  
  
"SAKUUUUUUUUUUURAAAAAAAAA!!" Q-Bert's voice wailed. "I'LL SAVE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!"  
  
"Oh boy..........." Sakura said. "This should be interesting........."  
  
"We're here!" the girl cackled and dragged Sakura into a hole.  
  
"AIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Sakura screamed all the way down.  
  
The two popped out in a very dark room. The only light was that of the fire that burned brightly in the middle. Hundreds of people were standing around.  
  
Sakura's eyes widened. "Y-you're not going to BURN me are you!?!?"  
  
"Of course, that is the only wait of sacrifice for a bishie captor," the girl explained.  
  
A girl in the crowd lowered her black hood, she had a very bad haircut, it looked almost forced.  
  
"K-kagome?" Sakura said to herself. "Don't tell me that all the people here are fangirls that had their bishies taken away."  
  
"Bingo!" her captor yelled and bound Sakura hands and feet.  
  
"Hey! Q-Bert'll rescue me any moment! You won't stand a chance!" Sakura shouted just as another girl tied a gag around her mouth.  
  
One girl spoke out. "Are you SURE that killing her will put an end to the preserve?"  
  
"Of course." Kagome said. "They are like a pack of wolves.. when leaderless, they fall apart."  
  
Another girl spoke. "But........ wolves find new leaders when their old ones die........"  
  
"SILENCE!" Kagome shrieked.  
  
"What about Naoko?" a third girl asked.  
  
"She can't last long without her best friend," Kagome said shortly, obviously wishing to get on with the sacrifice.  
  
"OH REALLY?" Naoko's voice boomed. "WELL, NOT IF I HAVE MY ICE CREAM!!"  
  
Sakura sweatdropped.  
  
Kagome shrieked and ran behind one of the other girls. Naoko appeared and quickly untied the gag that was in her friend's mouth.  
  
"Naoko! How did you get here!?" Sakura asked while Naoko was undoing the ropes that bound her hands and feet.  
  
"Simple really. There is a mailbox over in that corner. See?" she replied pointing to a large mailbox in the back of the room.  
  
"Then... where's Q-Bert?" Sakura asked.  
  
"We'll deal with that later. Our priority now is getting out alive," Naoko said.  
  
"AHAH!" Kagome cackled. "There is only one way out! and no one knows it but us!"  
  
Sakura glared at her. "You know... I can still cut your hair shorter."  
  
Kagome froze. "She's serious..." she thought. She pulled her cloak back over her head just as Q-Bert fell through the hole in the ceiling.  
  
"Ai....." Q-Bert moaned as he rubbed his head.  
  
"Are you okay?" Sakura asked, crawling over to him.  
  
"erm... yeah..." he replied and looked away.  
  
Sakura walked back over to Naoko. "So, what are we going to do with them?"  
  
"Well... why don't we give them a taste of their own medicine?" Naoko suggested.  
  
Sakura smiled malevolently and all of the fangirls backed away.  
  
Then, one by one, more and more bishies started to appear out of the mailbox. The girls who were hooded and cloaked backed up against the wall.  
  
"I suggest you let us get out," Naoko suggested to Kagome.  
  
Kagome looked at the rest of her group. More than half looked like they wanted to wet themselves. "Alright..." Kagome said. "Let me just show you the WAY!" and with the word "way" she attacked Sakura.   
  
Q-Bert, being foolish, tried to protect Sakura, but only succeeded in knocking her down. Kagome tripped over the two of them and ran into Naoko.   
  
Naoko looked down at what she was stabbed with. "You know," she said. "Rubber knives aren't very effective against a solid...."  
  
Kagome sweatdropped and backed away. Sakura and Q-Bert stood up, trying their best to look dignified, and led the Preserve Peeps out of the hole.  
  
"Well," Apricots stated. "That was interesting."  
  
"Can I have doughnuts now?" Vash asked.  
  
Inu Yasha and Knives snorted at the same time, then looked at each other quickly.  
  
"I think they've found a new friend," Naoko whispered to Sakura. 


	15. The Capture of Link, the Hero of Time

The next day, back at the preserve, things were quiet. Except for the gun blasts made by Portal Girl when she was greeting people.  
  
KABOOM BOOM BOOM!!!!  
  
Sakura looked up from her bishie magazine. "What on earth is she doing?!"  
  
Naoko shrugged.  
  
"Aren't you the least bit curious to see who she's insulting now?" Sakura questioned.  
  
Naoko looked up and nodded. As they headed towards the entrance the came across Knives and Inu Yasha playing dice game, and their weapons were between them.  
  
"What are you two up to?" Naoko asked as she inspected the game.  
  
"Who ever loses has to give up their weapon," Inu Yasha said quickly, trying to concentrate since it was Knives' turn.  
  
"But of course, since we're friends, we won't keep them," Knives added.  
  
Sakura looked shocked; Knives was being nice. They continued to the entrance and found several bullet holes in the walls.  
  
"WELCOME TO THE BISHIE PRESERVE!!!" Portal Girl shouted as two people walked through the door.  
  
"Well... she doesn't seem to be insulting anyone anymore," Sakura said cheerfully as she watched Portal fire another round.  
  
"Um...... don't you think that it would be a good idea to NOT scare the visitors?" Naoko suggested.  
  
"........................................................." was Portal Girl's only response.  
  
The two captors sighed and started to head back to their room. Bill intercepted them.  
  
"It's been two weeks since you guys brought in any bishies," he informed them.  
  
"But, we caught about 20 last time! Isn't that enough?" Sakura demanded.  
  
"No......... not really." Bill answered.  
  
Naoko looked pissed off and then simply looked sad.  
  
"But, isn't Apricots enough?" Naoko demanded, as the said bishie walked by.  
  
Apricots stopped and stared at Naoko. She swooned and fell over again. Apricots walked away with a little smile on his face.  
  
"Is that flirting?" Sakura asked, confused as Naoko picked herself off the floor.  
  
Bill seemed upset by the interruption  
  
"Well, getting on with what I wanted to say," he said. "We have now found the technology to send you into video games."  
  
Sakura went starry-eyed. "Does that mean that I can catch Sora from Kingdom Hearts?"  
  
Bill nodded. "But first, we are sending you into a game called 'Zelda.'"  
  
Sakura and Naoko were silent for a moment.  
  
"Which one?" Sakura finally said.  
  
"Majora's Mask. You will have approximately 3 days to catch Link. If you should fail... you will be killed by the giant moon that is falling. You can't come back unless you catch him," Bill informed.  
  
Naoko stared at him in shock. "We... we could DIE?!?! What will happen to Apricots if I die??? HE'LL DIE!!!!!!!!"  
  
"Naoko calm down... we catch Link and be back before Apricots can say 'Where's that cute blonde girl.'"  
  
"Really?!!" Naoko asked with water filled eyes.  
  
Sakura nodded.  
  
"Ok then! Of to the land of Zelda!" Naoko shouted and dragged Sakura to the store room.  
  
The Bishie Captors equipped themselves and pulled Stupid from his place of honor: under a pile of smelly socks.  
  
"WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU?" Stupid demanded as soon as he could sense his Captors.  
  
Sakura and Naoko took him into the giant computer room.  
  
"We're uploading new information into you," Sakura told him.  
  
"I'm honored!" Stupid cried.  
  
"Just take us into the Legend of Zelda, Majora's Mask," Sakura commanded.  
  
"Ok!" Stupid said. "Teleport set up!"  
  
Naoko looked at Sakura. "Um...... should we take Inu Yasha? What if we die?"  
  
"Well....... I guess we can leave that up to him," Sakura said.  
  
"Well, if you are destined to die, I can simply set up a teleport and send him home while you two heroically die......" Stupid said.  
  
Sakura and Naoko looked at each other. "Nah.........." they said.  
  
The two girls stuck their hands into the mailbox and appeared in a large clock tower.  
  
"Um..." Sakura mumbled as she looked around.  
  
"Ah... more visitors... yet... you do not look like you have a curse upon you," A voice echoed through the tower.  
  
Sakura and Naoko inched their way to the door and ran out before the voice could say anymore. Upon reaching the bright light from the sun a small dog started chasing the two girls.  
  
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Sakura screamed and started running.  
  
Naoko watched and wore a very amused face. Sakura ran headlong into a boy and fell over.  
  
"Iie...."  
  
The boy looked slightly surprised. "I'm sorry!" he said to Sakura as he helped her up, a very amusing sight since he was not very tall.  
  
Sakura stared at him. "You're Link!" she stated.  
  
"That's my name" he said cheerfully. "Don't wear it out!"  
  
Naoko ran up. "OMG!! He's so cuuuuuuuuuute! Can we keep him?"  
  
"Um...... Isn't that why we're here?" Sakura asked.  
  
Just then, a hysterical girl ran up. "LIIIIIIIIIINKY!" she wailed. "GANNONDORK STOLE MY OCARINA!!!"  
  
Link closed his eyes. "Is it really that important Zelda?"  
  
"Of COURSE it is!" Zelda stamped her foot.  
  
Link rolled his eyes and turned back to the captors. "You are going to have to wait. Apparently I have to save Zelda's ocarina."  
  
Sakura and Naoko stared at him.  
  
"You don't mean this?" Sakura asked, holding up a fake ocarina that looked like the real thing.  
  
MY OCARINA!!!" Zelda shouted, running forward and grabbing the flute from Sakura's hand.  
  
"Well... that was relatively quick," Naoko said quietly.  
  
A loud squeak came from the general area of Zelda and she quickly ran back to Sakura.  
  
"THIS ISN'T MY OCARINA!!!! I WANT *MY* OCARINA!!!!" she exclaimed.  
  
"Well, what if your ocarina flew away and no one can find it ever again?" Naoko suggested.  
  
Link gave her a look that said "are you stupid enough to think that she is stupid enough to accept that stupid story for stupid people?"  
  
Zelda looked confused for a bit, then looked into the sky. "Do you think so?"  
  
Everyone else sweatdropped.  
  
"Maybe you should look on Goron Mountain," Naoko suggested, patted a pondering Zelda on the head, and pushed her off in another direction.  
  
"Waaaaaaaaait a minute....." Sakura said. "Zelda isn't supposed to be in Majora's Mask......"  
  
Link rolled his eyes. "The Princess has gotten the ability to go from place to place to bother me whenever she wants to........"  
  
"Awwwwww!!" Naoko said. "That's so sad!! I wonder if she can make him adult.... HEY! PRINCESS ZELDA!!" Naoko ran after the meandering princess.  
  
Sakura sweatdropped. "Hey, Link, want to get away from her forever?"  
  
"Um..... I don't know... It's kind of fun to piss her off," he said. "Why?" Just then, he was surrounded by a blue light.  
  
"Uh........ Link?" Sakura asked.  
  
The blue light disappeared and Link was an adult. The two heard a squeal and a blonde, brown-clad blur streaked past Naoko and knocked Link down.  
  
"Naoko!! Don't hurt him!! Do you know how pissed off Bill will be?" Sakura shouted.  
  
"Oh.... right," Naoko said. She got up and dusted herself off. Link got up and followed suit.  
  
"Well, we can go home, now, right?" Naoko asked.  
  
"We still have to catch him," Sakura informed her.  
  
"Well, if you had let me hug him longer, then we WOULD have caught him." Naoko said.  
  
Link stepped close to Naoko. "You know... You look a lot like Zelda," he informed her.  
  
Naoko got mad. "Sure!!" She said. "Other than the fact I have short hair, no pointy ears, not wearing a dress, aren't ugly, AND not stupid, I'm EXACTLY like her!!"  
  
"Um.... Naoko?" Sakura whispered to her friend. "I think he's trying to find someone else to "save" so he wont have to do anything for Zelda anymore..."  
  
"oh........" Naoko said. She sweatdropped and looked at link.  
  
"LIIIINK!" Zelda screamed and started running back towards him from the other side of town.  
  
"I'll save you, Princess!!" He cried. He then picked up Naoko, and ran as fast as he could in the other direction. Naoko looked too shocked to protest and Sakura sweatdropped again..  
  
Zelda skidded to a stop by Sakura. "Where did link go?" she demanded. "He was just here!"  
  
"He found someone else to save.... I think...." she said, looking at the quickly disappearing Link. She could just make out Naoko pounding on his back, no doubt demanding to be let down. "Can I help you?"  
  
"Yeah!" Zelda said. "That kid there," she pointed to a two-year-old happily throwing rocks into a pond, "made fun of me!! Kill him!!"  
  
Sakura shook her head. "I'm sorry," she said. "That's against my religion."  
  
"What? Killing children?" Zelda was surprised.  
  
"No, following your orders," Sakura said. She then started to jog towards where Link had disappeared. Naoko wouldn't have let him get too far, she reasoned.  
  
"PUT ME DOWN!!!!" Naoko shouted at Link.  
  
"But you're my princess now, I must rescue you from the evils of the land. Especially the giant falling moon. Very, very dangerous. I must get you somewhere safe," Link started rambling.  
  
"Naoko!!!" Sakura called.  
  
Naoko struggled to get herself out of Link's grasp. She finally succeeded in doing so, but only ended up having a rope tied around her wrist so she wouldn't run away.  
  
"You can't do this Link. I have a job," Naoko said, glaring at him.  
  
"OI! Girl with the brown hair!" Zelda's voice carried over the wind.  
  
"What do you want know?" Sakura asked.  
  
"You've pissed me off! No one does that to the princess," Zelda said matter- of-factly.  
  
"You're not my princess. So technically I don't have to listen to you. Plus, I'm on a mission," Sakura replied, boredom running through her voice.  
  
"DON'T TAKE THAT TONE WITH ME!!!!!!!!!!!!" Zelda screamed.  
  
Sakura stood looking at her, wide eyed. She really had never seen Zelda angry. "You're... not planning on doing anything to me are you?"  
  
Zelda's breathing grew harsh and she clenched her fists. She charged at Sakura full force, not thinking that Sakura, being a bishie captor, might now a bit more about fighting than her.  
  
Sakura quickly blocked the punch but tripped over a large rock that was behind her and fell. She grabbed her head to protect it from Zelda's swing... but the punch never came. She slowly looked up at Zelda.  
  
"You never disobey the mighty Zelda."  
  
Zelda grabbed Sakura by her collar and lifted her into the air.  
  
"NAOKO!!!! NOW WOULD BE A GOOD TIME TO COME!!!" Sakura shouted as Zelda moved her hands around Sakura's throat.  
  
Naoko started running, dragging Link behind her. With each rock that Naoko jumped over, Link hit it with his face.  
  
"My princess! Stop running!" Link shouted between his meetings with rocks.  
  
Naoko tried to jump kick, but at that moment, another rock attacked Link and she was knocked down. "Stupid rope," Naoko muttered.  
  
Sakura sighed and took out a little Zelda doll. "Must I do this?" she asked Zelda.  
  
Zelda let Sakura down. "What's that?" she asked.  
  
"We call it.. Voodoo," Sakura said.  
  
Meanwhile, Link, bruised and bleeding, had limped over to Naoko. "Are you alright?" he asked her, which seemed a bit hard because of a couple of broken and loose teeth in his mouth.  
  
"Aww!!" Naoko's eyes filled with tears. "You're hurt really bad and still concerned for me!"  
  
Link gave a wide, but bloody smile, which, strangely enough made him look very cute. "Of course I am!" he said. "You're my princess!"  
  
"You see," Sakura was saying to Zelda. "If I may," she chopped off a lock of Zelda's hair and tied it onto the doll, "when this doll has something of your essence, I can do magic with it, like this!!" she grabbed a stone and smashed it to the doll's head. Nothing happened.  
  
"It's not very interesting," Zelda said.  
  
"Let me take care of it," Naoko said, helping the tattered Link up.  
  
"SWEET MOTHER OF THE DEKU TREE!!" Zelda shouted. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM, YOU MAN-WHORE!"  
  
Naoko shook her head. "You shouldn't say such things about yourself," She told Zelda.  
  
Sakura swayed on her feet. "Bill is going to MURDER us..."  
  
"No, he's not, silly! All you have to do is find a fairy!" Naoko told her. She then took the voodoo doll from Sakura. "Now, this is how you do it!" she muttered some words over the doll. Her eyes flashed red briefly and she smiled. Zelda looked disconcerted for bit. She then regained her haughty composure. Naoko looked up again, and Link was watching her worriedly. Naoko winked at him. "Don't worry!" she said. She then moved the doll's leg a bit. Zelda followed suit.  
  
"How did you do that?" Zelda demanded.  
  
"Voodoo," Naoko said. She then made the doll kick its head. Zelda's leg tried, but didn't quite make it. Naoko then proceeded to make Zelda do all sorts of tricks.  
  
After a bit, Sakura said, "Um.. Naoko" we don't have much time left..."  
  
"oh! right!" Naoko said. she then walked Zelda over to the little boy that had made fun of her previously and gave him the doll. She then explained what to do and rejoined her companions. "Now about that fairy."  
  
"There should be some pots around here somewhere..." Sakura mumbled and started looking around for some pots.  
  
Naoko followed suit. "Here little pot, little pot, little pot..." she called.  
  
The little boy that Naoko had given the voodoo doll to was playing with it. Zelda was doing back flips, cartwheels, and break dancing. (A/N: XD)  
  
"Oi! Link! There are some pots over here!" Sakura called.  
  
Naoko and Link both ran over and Link quickly bashed the pots in. Three fairies came out, each healing one of them.  
  
"YAY!! Now, back to the preserve we go!" Naoko said happily.  
  
"Stupid! Set up a teleport!" Sakura ordered.  
  
"Yes ma'am!" Stupid shouted.  
  
The three were teleported back to the preserve. When they got out of the mailbox, Link was clutching Naoko's arm protectively. "Are you sure that thing is safe?" he asked, looking at the mailbox askance.  
  
"Yes, we travel like this all the time," Sakura told him.  
  
Link gave the mailbox another suspicious look, then let go of Naoko's arm. Naoko rubbed it and muttered something about no circulation.  
  
The three walked into the preserve. A furious Inu Yasha met them. "Didn't you forget something??" He demanded.  
  
Sakura looked around. "Except for that voodoo doll, no," she said.  
  
Bill, who had just joined them, looked alarmed. "I'm not even going to ask," she said.  
  
"Good," Naoko said. "We have caught Link for you, O-Mighty one," she said and displayed the new Bishie.  
  
"WHAT ABOUT ME?!" Inu Yasha demanded.  
  
"Well, you see, pooky," Sakura said and pulled him aside. Inu Yasha's face started to turn purple in anger.  
  
"He looks a bit dangerous," Link whispered to Naoko.  
  
Naoko sighed. "The only guy you need to worry about here is Knives," she said and pointed out the named bishie, who was stapled to Mooie's backpack, much to his distaste.  
  
"We were afraid you would get hurt," Sakura explained to Inu Yasha.  
  
"By whom?" he demanded again. "That shorty?"  
  
"Watch it, kitty!" Link said sharply.  
  
Inu Yasha started to swell with anger.  
  
Sakura stared at Link. "He called him a cat..." she mumbled.  
  
Inu Yasha went for his sword but Sakura grabbed it and ran in the other direction.  
  
"HEY!" Inu Yasha shouted. "Come back here!"  
  
Sakura kept running. She turned back to look at Inu Yasha and ran head long into Syaoran and Q-Bert.  
  
"Ittai...." she said and rubbed her head.  
  
Inu Yasha came running up and grabbed his sword out of Sakura's hand. She smiled innocently at him.  
  
"You aren't going to kill anyone with that... are you??" she asked.  
  
"I just might. What's it to you?" Inu Yasha questioned back.  
  
"WELL! Now that you ask. According to the Law of Bishies, once you are captured by a bishie captor you may no longer kill anyone. If you do, you spend 5 days in the "TOURTURE CHAMBER!" AHHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Sakura laughed mechanically.  
  
Inu Yasha backed up a little. Syaoran looked at Q-Bert then headed back to the pool.  
  
"That was a bit anti climatic," Naoko observed. She glanced at Link, who was fingering his sword, looking as if his fears were confirmed. Naoko sighed and pushed him inside. "Let's go on a tour of the preserve!!"  
  
"Whets that?" Link asked, pointing at a computer. "And that?" he pointed to an automatic door.   
  
"EE... This is going to take a while....." Sakura said. 


	16. A Cook, Project Coordinator, and Randomn...

"And what's that?" Link asked, pointing to a speaker phone on the wall.  
  
"Naoko... I'm going to leave this up to you... bye!" Sakura said, walking off to find her little sister.  
  
As Sakura wandered around she came across the little orphan boy she had brought back.  
  
"onee-san! Where have you been?" the little boy asked.  
  
"Just out doing my job," Sakura replied and ruffled his hair. "Say... have you Hikaru?"  
  
"Yeah, she was in the library with some of the other bishies.  
  
"Thanks! Would you like to walk with me?" Sakura asked holding her hand out for the little boy.  
  
He gladly took it and the two headed off towards the library.  
  
Sakura opened the door and heard a young woman instructing some other people on the proper way to wield a sword. "Ahh... Hikaru is already starting to teach people. That's good!"  
  
Cael winced. "That's not right!" he said.  
  
"How would you know?" Sakura asked gently.  
  
"I killed squirrels at a very young age," Cael said, matter of factly.  
  
"Aww!! That's not nice!" Hikaru said, walking out from behind a bookshelf, holding a Sesshoumaru plushie.  
  
"That was't you?" Sakura asked.  
  
"Nope. I was looking up explosives," she said and held up a book labeled "Dynamite for Dummies".  
  
Sakura sweatdropped, but looked relieved.  
  
"Anyway... Hikaru-chan, it's time for you to start the actually training of the bishies. You will be starting with Apricots and Link. I trust that you will be able to handle them, ne?" Sakura said.  
  
"Yep yep!" Hikaru replied saluting.  
  
"Good. Now Cael... I would like you to stay with Syaoran and Q-Bert, they'll take good care of you. I don't want our newest bishie-to-be to get hurt." Sakura told him.  
  
She patted his head and pushed him out of the library.  
  
"He's so cute, isn't he?" Sakura smiled while she watched the boy run back to the bishie preserve room.  
  
Hikaru nodded enthusiastically.  
  
"Anyway, back to the training. Naoko likes both Apricots and Link. I want you to train Apricots to use a sword so he and Link can have a duel. The winner of the duel will be the one that Naoko will like the most. You just have to make it look like they wanted to duel themselves. This is so that we can give a demonstration for the rest of the bishies in the preserve so that they know what a real fight is all about. Do you follow?" Sakura said.  
  
"Nope! Not one bit!" Hikaru cried happily.  
  
Sakura sighed. "Teach Apricots to use a sword and help Link get better. He's very clumsy at the moment."  
  
"Yes ma'am!" Hikaru exclaimed.  
  
Hikaru skipped out of the room happily and Sakura went over to watch the bishies that were learning how to use bokkens.  
  
To her surprise, it was actually a fan girl instructing fellow rabid fan girls on the art of incorrectly using a bokken in order to attract a bishie that knows how to use a bokken correctly and would take pity on them enough to teach them to use it correctly, and thus provide a chance for them to be caught.  
  
"Um......" Sakura said as she walked up to the group. "I don't think that will work....."  
  
The girl instructing whipped around. She proved to be a very short and obviously enthusiastic girl. "It will!!" she chirped. "SEE!!" she held up her arm, which had a Kenshin plushie chained to it.  
  
"Uh.................." Sakura decided to just back away and let the girl continue on.  
  
Back with Naoko and Link.........  
  
"And what's this?" Link asked, pointing to a desk.  
  
"That's something you write on.........." Naoko said.  
  
"And that?" he pointed to a pencil.  
  
"That's something you write WITH."  
  
Meanwhile, Sakura had left the fan girls and was wandering around the preserve when she came upon a black door. She looked around to make sure no one was there and then tried to open the door, but it was locked. Now, being the unsuspecting person that she was, she didn't think anything of it and continued on her way.  
  
In the Bishie Training room, Hikaru was setting up the various targets for her first Bokken lesson, as she called them. She even had little lesson plans written out.  
  
"Now..." she mumbled, "just to find Apricots and Link."  
  
She skipped out of the room and went in search of the two bishies.  
  
"What's that?" Link asked pointing to a small stuffed squirrel that sat on the registration desk.  
  
"Uh.... that's a stuffed squirrel," Naoko replied.  
  
"Does it bite?" Link asked.  
  
"No... it's stuffed," Naoko explained and poked the squirrel. It suddenly latched itself on to her finger.  
  
"AHAHAHAHH!!! Got ya!" a voice yelled hysterically.  
  
Naoko turned to face the person whose voice was mocking her. "Who might you be?"  
  
A girl with shoulder length brown hair and a pair of overalls on put her hands on her hips. "The name's Rika. I'm a cook!"  
  
Naoko stared at her in shock. While, in the background, Hikaru quietly snuck up behind Link and put her hand over his mouth and dragged him away.  
  
"A cook? Who said we needed a cook?" Naoko asked.  
  
"It's right here! In the newspaper!" Rika held up a piece of newspaper with magazine letter clip outs that read "COoK neeDED FOR prESERve! PleASe comE immEdiATley!"  
  
Naoko paused. "I never put that there........."  
  
Just then the original cook marched out. "I'VE HAD IT!!" she shrieked amidst Portal Girl's greeting a family of tourists with a grenade launcher. "WELCOME TO THE BISHIE PRESERVE!! HAVE A NICE DAY!" she bellowed, waving the smoke out of her eyes.  
  
The cook seemed to get madder. "FIRST it is the demanding MALES that you call BISHIES, then it is that INSANE PORTAL GIRL SHOOTING ME EVERY CHANCE SHE GETS!!" To that, Portal Girl beamed at the cook. "Then it's that VASH robbing me of ALL donuts in the WHOLE PRESERVE!!!" The cook stormed out, which a Vash, whose hands and mouth were full of donuts, walked into the entrance to see what was happening.  
  
"VASH?!" Naoko bellowed.  
  
Vash whimpered through his donut. "ywesh?" he garbled meekly.  
  
Before Naoko could yell anymore, Rika walked up to him and shook his arm. "Hello, Vash the Stampede! I shall be you new cook!"  
  
"Um... I didn't hire yo-"  
  
"DROP AND GIVE ME TWENTY!!" an unfamiliar voice screamed.  
  
"Natsu-chan! You don't need to be so loud..." Rika said, rubbing her ear.  
  
"Sorry," a girl with a long, black braid said and walked up to Naoko and peered into her eyes. "I'm here to be your project coordinator!"  
  
Naoko gaped at the so-called Natsu-chan.  
  
Hikaru walked past, dragging Apricots by the shirt. "NATSUMI!" she shrieked, dropped Apricots, and rushed to the newly-declared Project Coordinator. She hugged Natsumi and squealed.  
  
Apricots rubbed at his neck. Naoko and Vash watched him start to run towards the hallway, obviously trying to escape Hikaru.  
  
"NOT SO FAST!" Portal Girl yelled. She whipped around and shot the top of the hallway, blocking off Apricots escape. "Can't let a Bishie get away from a fellow coworker!" she said cheerfully.  
  
Apricots looked dismayed, then ran to hide behind Naoko.  
  
"Ahh! Get away! Hikaru will attack me!!" Naoko said and ran to hide behind Vash.  
  
Vash dropped all of the doughnuts he was holding and did some nifty moves that made Naoko sweatdrop.  
  
"OOOOooooooooooooooooh! So you wanna do some Tae Kwon Do, do yah?" Natsu hollered.  
  
Vash looked at her and she looked at Vash. Suddenly she did a jump spin hook kick and knocked Vash over who in turn fell into Naoko knocking her over.  
  
"AHHAH! Beware of the madness!" Natsu shouted.  
  
Portal girl stared at Natsumi in awe and Apricots, well, he was watching Naoko as she struggled to push Vash off of her legs.  
  
Before Apricots could do anything, Hikaru grabbed a hold of Apricots shirt again. This time, he actually tried to fight back, but Hikaru just threatened him with a rubber mallet. "Portal Girl?" Hikaru asked.  
  
"RIGHT!" Portal girl blasted a hole in the debris of the hallway, providing a pathway for Hikaru. "There you go!" Portal Girl said. "Hey, can you train me on more deadly ways of greeting people sometime?"  
  
Before Naoko could say anything, Hikaru said "SURE!" and marched off, dragging sad-looking Apricots behind her.  
  
Naoko struggled to get up again. Unfortunately, Vash seemed very comfortable where he was, the pervert that he is. He grabbed a donut in reach and started munching. "You're pretty comfortable, you know," he beamed at Naoko.  
  
"That's sweet!" Naoko said and beamed. "but if you don't get off now, IM GOING TO EAT YOU!"  
  
Vash quickly got off of Naoko's legs, not wanting to be eaten alive. That was a very scary thought to him. Naoko bounced up and started running after Apricots but quickly got tired.  
  
"I think I'm going to go take a nap," she said to herself.  
  
As she quietly walked back to the bishie captors room Sakura was following, staying hidden in the shadows of the walls.  
  
"Now, as soon as she's asleep I'll snag her," Sakura though.  
  
Naoko snuggled up under her red and black neko sheets as was quickly sound asleep. Sakura tiptoed over to her and carefully slipped a gag around her mouth and shoved her in a bag without her waking up. She tried to sling it over her should but didn't have enough arm strength to do so, so she just dragged Naoko off the bed and off towards the stairs to the roof. As Sakura was walking up the stairs and dragging Naoko behind her, Naoko began to wake up. She started making noises, but no real words were said because of the gag.  
  
"Stop grunting Naoko!" Sakura yelled and kicked the bag.  
  
Naoko kicked back and just barely missed Sakura's leg. Now, when Sakura saw this, she began to run faster making it impossible for Naoko to do anything but try to protect her head the best she could.  
  
When they reached the roof Sakura opened a large glass window that looked as if it was over a VERY LARGE swimming pool. She stuck her head down.  
  
"Yeah... that water looks like a soft enough landing in case she falls," Sakura laughed.  
  
She untied the end of the bag and wrapped a large, thick rope around Naoko's feet and slowly pushed her through the window. She anchored the rope around the chimney and let Naoko hang, upside down.  
  
The bag that was around Naoko's head slowly slid off, letting Naoko see her surroundings. Her eyes widened and she scream through the gag. Down below was an arena, and on the side lines was Hikaru, Apricots, and Link.  
  
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY PRINCESS?!" Link demanded.  
  
"Just an exercise!" Sakura said hastily, more afraid of Apricot's deadly look more than anything Link could ever say.  
  
"She's the next Houdini..." Hikaru said and looked up at Naoko, who was busily trying to chew through her gag.  
  
"Hmm..." Was all Apricots would say.  
  
"Here are your weapons," Hikaru said and handed two swords to Link, and two katanas to Apricots. "Have fun!" She shoved them into the water-filled arena.  
  
Link just glared. "And WHY should I fight instead of trying to free the princess?" he demanded.  
  
"Because the winner gets to catch her when I cut the ropes.  
  
Naoko began to chew more feverishly.  
  
Link sighed and turned to Apricots.  
  
"I really don't think this is necessary," Apricots said. "It looks as if she will free herself in about five minutes."  
  
"Not if I have anything to do with it!" Sakura cried. She started to throw porcupines in the general direction of Naoko.  
  
Naoko screamed in fury and started to swing back and forth in order to not be hit. 


	17. Randomness, part two! And some ice crea...

Sakura cackled evilly and Naoko shot her a look that said "I'll get you back for this!" Just then, Q-Bert, Syaoran, Knives, Mooie, Ca-chan, Cael, Portal Girl, Rika, Vash, Inu Yasha, and Natsumi walked in. Naoko gave them all a pleading look as she dodged all of the flying porcupines. They all pointed and laughed.  
  
"THE MADNESS!!!" Natsu yelled through gasps for air from laughing so hard.  
  
Cael just looked around. He had never been in this room before, let alone heard anything about. Q-Bert looked at the dangling Naoko and then to the cackling Sakura and sweatdropped. Syaoran was staring intently at the swords that the two bishies in the arena were holding.  
  
"Those are nothing compared to the sword I have," he said.  
  
"Mines better than yours," Inu Yasha spat.  
  
Syaoran glared at him. Then, a loud whistle blew.  
  
"Now, if you will all direct your attention to the contestants in the arena you find it almost time to start," Hikaru said over a loud speaker.  
  
A spotlight hit the two bishies temporarily blinding them.  
  
"And if you look above you, you will see the prize that the winner will get," Hikaru pointed out.  
  
A spotlight hit Naoko and one by one, another porcupine flew past her.  
  
"Now that you have seen the contestants and the prize, we will be starting the game in a few minutes," Hikaru said and turned the mic off.  
  
Suddenly a screen appeared over the water and started playing the subliminal message videos with popcorn and soda appearing. Everyone rushed out of the arena and off to a nearby snackbar.  
  
After everyone had gotten what he or she were told to get, the filed into a set of theatre seats that had suddenly appeared.  
  
"Are you READY contestants" Hikaru yelled.  
  
Link snorted and Apricots simply brushed his hair out of his eyes. There was a sudden absence of movement from the direction of Naoko.  
  
Natsu, who had been the only one to observe Naoko, laughed. "The Madness," she said again. She then whapped Q-Bert with an empty ice cream container. "YOU! Get me some more ice cream please?"  
  
"But, I want to-"  
  
"Now" Natsu said. "Or suffer the consequences!"  
  
"And what are those?" Q-Bert asked, glancing in Sakura's direction, betraying his feelings.  
  
"You KNOW what..." Natsumi said.  
  
Q-Bert sighed and handed her his ice cream.  
  
"Excellent......."  
  
As the contest started it appeared that Link had the advantage. The fighting went on and on for about 30 minutes and then a loud buzzer went off.  
  
"The first round winner is.................... Link!" Hikaru shouted and the crowd went wild.  
  
Link was panting. He used a lot of energy trying to swim toward Apricots just to hit him. Apricots on the other hand, was casually floating on top of the water just waiting for the next round. Suddenly, Hikaru threw two oxygen masks at the bishies.  
  
"The next match will be UNDERWATER!!!" she exclaimed happily.  
  
"WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" Sakura yelled from the roof.  
  
Link looked completely confused. Apricots stuck the mask on and dove under the water. 'Looks like I'll have to go a bit harder on this guy. He's tougher than I thought. No problem though... Naoko's too cute to give up to this fool.' he thought.  
  
Meanwhile, in the stands, Natsu kicked Q-Bert again. "I need more ice cream madness! Go get it now!" she ordered  
  
Q-Bert rolled his eyes and slowly got up, taking one more look up at Sakura. This time, she waved back.  
  
When he came back, the second round was over and Apricots had won.  
  
Q-bert sighed, handed Natsumi her ice cream and sat down again.  
  
"Now for the third round!" Hikaru said and rang a bell.  
  
Apricots and Link charged at each other.  
  
"BLUB BLUB BLUS!" Link bellowed at Apricots.  
  
"Blud.........." Apricots returned.  
  
Suddenly, one of them screamed. Or so the audience thought. In all actuality, Naoko had chewed through her gag and started screaming. "YOu @#^@$%@$% Sakura!! I'm going to KILL YOU!"  
  
Sakura smiled and threw another porcupine at her.  
  
Naoko gave out a sound like a snarl and swung out of the way. To Sakura's dismay, she caught hold of the side of the underwater arena with her teeth. She then proceeded to do her best to hang on with her tied up hands while she knawed on the ropes at her feet. Apricots and Link had stopped fighting to stare at the half desperate, half insane, half, well, just Naoko girl.  
  
Sakura blinked at Naoko. She hadn't expected Naoko to be this resourceful. Panicking Sakura slid down the rope and started hitting Naoko on the head with a rolled up newspaper. "No! you can't escape yet! There's another round!"  
  
Naoko glared at Sakura and started shaking her feet that Sakura just so happened to be balancing on.  
  
"Uh oh...." Sakura said and grabbed the rope to try and keep herself from falling off.  
  
"I HATE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Naoko screamed.  
  
"No you don't! I'm your partner... now... just stop shaking!!" Sakura cried.  
  
Naoko shakes her feet harder. This time causing Sakura to completely lose balance and plumeted down into the water.  
  
"IIIIEEEEEE!!!!!!!!" Sakura screamed all the way down.  
  
She landed in the water with a huge splash. Naoko continued to knaw on her ropes, occasionally spitting out fibers.  
  
In the water, Sakura bubbled angrily at Naoko, oblivious to Link, who was trying to save her.  
  
With a shriek of triumph, Naoko finally got free.  
  
"Are you SURE she's human?" Natsumi asked Rika, who was sitting by her.  
  
"Well, some sort of humanoid," Rika replied.  
  
Naoko tottered on the bar precariously. Suddenly, although not unexpected, a cookbook came flying out of nowhere, hitting Naoko square in the stomach. Naoko wobbled, and fell. Spun by the force of another cookbook that had collided into her, she, flipped through the air, and landed a graceful dive into the water, right on top of Sakura. The two proceeded into a catfight.  
  
"See how Sakura is using the hair as a leverage?" Hikaru prompted her audience excitedly.  
  
"OOH!! That's got to hurt!" she exclaimed as Naoko elbowed her in the ribs.  
  
The two broke the surface  
  
"BITCH!" Sakura screamed.  
  
"WHORE!" Naoko returned.  
  
"PROSTITUTE!"  
  
"TRAMP!"  
  
"SLUT!"  
  
"SKANK!"  
  
"STUPID MONKEY!"  
  
"MOTHER OF THE SON OF A KOALA!"  
  
"SPACE-PORT FLOOSY!"  
  
"SLEEZE CHEETO!"  
  
The two girls broke out in hysterical laughter, holding on to each other as they gasped for air. Everyone else stared at them in amazement.  
  
"I think we should probably get out of the water now," Sakura said through gasps for air.  
  
Naoko nodded in agreement and the two of them swam over to the side of the ring and climbed out.  
  
Sakura sighed. "We're soaking wet now..."  
  
Naoko turned to Hikaru. "Can you continue the tournament while we go get changed?" she asked.  
  
Hikaru nodded enthusiastically; Apricots and Link sweatdropped.  
  
Sakura and Naoko left the arena and went off to their room.  
  
"So... Sakura.... why exactly did you hang me from the roof?" Naoko asked as they walked.  
  
"Well...heh..." Sakura sweatdropped, "you see... you couldn't choose between Apricots and Link so...I thought a little... tournament was in store... and all... so yeah."  
  
Naoko nodded as they entered their room.  
  
"Well, as long as I get ic- AAHAHAHAH!!" Naoko screamed and ran into the room, which had a freezer in it, no doubt full of ice cream.  
  
Naoko opened the door forcefully and dived in. She didn't notice the door closing after her, Sakura laughing evilly, and the fact that the refrigerator was moving. In fact, she didn't even think about anything but ice cream until, once again, she was hung over the arena once again.  
  
"Well, folks! It looks as if out prize has just been restored!" Hikaru boomed into a mike while the crowd cheered, Link looked angry, and Apricots looked mildly surprised.  
  
"How could she let herself be caught?!" Link demanded.  
  
"I'm not sure..." Apricots responded, then sighed as Naoko tried to swing herself in the direction of the freezer, which was on the ground.  
  
"Ice cream" they said together.  
  
"I SHALL SAVE YOU MY PRINCESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Link shouted.  
  
"Humph. Like I'd let you get her," Apricots mumbled.  
  
"WHAT WAS THAT!?!?!?" Link asked in a daring voice.  
  
"Now, now boys, save this for the last round," Hikaru said in a jolly tone and laughed. "AND NOW, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE WILL PROCEED TO THE LAST ROUND! We are not responsible if the audience receives any fatal injuries."  
  
With that, Hikaru threw to large blowtorches into the arena. Link stared at the weapon in confusion while Apricots simply smiled and looked up at Naoko. Naoko swooned and fell unconscious.  
  
"Wow... I thought he just made her fall over... not unconscious....HEY! APRICOTS! YOU HAVE A NEW JOB NOW!!! YOU CAN HELP WITH FANGIRL CONTROL. IS THAT OKAY CA-CHAN, MOOIE?" Sakura called down.  
  
Ca and Mooie stared at Sakura in disgust.  
  
"Ok... never mind..." Sakura said and went to tighten the rope that held Naoko.  
  
Link picked up the strange device slowly. "What's this?" he asked Apricots.  
  
"Well, I suppose I can help you..." Apricots said. He picked up his blowtorch and held it the wrong way, so that if he turned it on, it would set him on fire, not his enemy. "You hold it like this," he said, helping Link with the difficult hand placement induced from the incorrectly held torch. "And you press this trigger..." he said and gently tapped it.  
  
Link, being the trusting person he was, (except when it came to Gannondorf, of course) pressed the trigger and blasted himself. With a yell, he fell into the water to put the fire out. When he came back up, he had only slightly singed eyebrows.  
  
Apricots looked questioningly at Hikaru. She only shrugged.  
  
Link pulled up his green shirt angrily, accompanied by whistles and screams from the audience, and showed Apricots his Goron Tunic. "Just in case," he said angrily.  
  
"Isn't that cheating?" Apricots asked.  
  
"Not when there is a princess at stake!" Link roared and burst out of the water and grappled Apricots.  
  
Sakura stared wide-eyed. "Oh my god........... HIKARU! THEY CAN ONLY USE THE WEAPONS!!! LINK IS DISQUALIFIED!"  
  
Hikaru looked down at the instruction sheet that Sakura had given her:  
  
THE BEST-BISHE CONTEST: TO SEE WHO WINS NAOKO  
  
1. Must take place in a water arena.  
  
2. Prize must be hung from the ceiling.  
  
3. Contestants must only use the weapons given to them in each round.  
  
4. If such weapons are not used, it is automatic disqualification.  
  
Such ends Sakura's instruction sheet. (Other than these Hikaru, you can make up the rules. ^.~)  
  
"She's right!" Hikaru called into the microphone. "Link, The Hero of Time, is disqualified!"  
  
The crowd went wild and Sakura slowly brought Naoko back up to the roof.  
  
"Hey, Naoko!" Sakura called as she slapped her cheek. "Apricots won!"  
  
Naoko blinked a few times. "WHERE'S THE ICE CREAM!??!?!?!?!?" She shouted in a deranged tone.  
  
Sakura fell backwards. "It down by the side of the arena. Apricots is there too, but-"  
  
She couldn't finish the statement before Naoko tried to run but fell on her face, for she still had the rope tied around her ankles.  
  
"Sa-ku-ra..." Naoko said slowly.  
  
Laughing nervously, Sakura untied the rope and Naoko took off running.  
  
Naoko skidded to a stop by the butter and the waiting Apricots. Without so much as a word, she dove into her favorite sweet of the frozen variety.   
  
"What??" Apricots demanded. "Not so much as a thank you? You're swell? I think you're cute?"   
  
Naoko looked up from a tub of caramel swirled in caramel ice cream and stared at him, spoon in mouth. Apricots stared back. Without warning, she leapt up and glomped him with a squeal. Apricots staggered and almost fell over.   
  
"Ah.." Naoko sighed. "I'm in heaven......... Unlimited ice cream and my favoritest bishie...."  
  
Everyone else sweatdropped. 


	18. Riku and Doctor Apricots!

The next day, Naoko could be found with one arm wrapped around Apricots' neck and the other arm with an ice cream tub. Link on the other hand, is sitting in the corner mumbling about how the rules for the competition were rigged so that Apricots would win.  
  
"ITS BRILLIANT!" Sakura shouted from her tanning on the roof. "We'll catch Sora now!"  
  
She quickly got up and ran down the stairs to Naoko and grabbed her collar dragging her back to their room.  
  
"Naoko! We're going to go catch Sora now," Sakura said quickly.  
  
"Wha...?" Naoko said through a mouth full of ice cream.  
  
Sakura sighed and took the ice cream tub away from Naoko.  
  
"We're going into Kingdom Hearts. I have a brilliant beyond brilliant idea on how to catch Sora," Sakura explained.  
  
Many of the bishies that had followed Sakura as she dragged Naoko back to the room, now had their ears pressed against the door trying to find out what poor soul was going to be caught next.  
  
~* A few minutes pass *~  
  
Naoko's eyes were wide. "It's... it's..." she began.  
  
"Brilliant," Sakura finished.  
  
"Well, except for the fact that if the rubber chicken isn't in the right place at 9:00, and if you don't give me ice cream you're going to be decapitated...." Naoko said, eying the ice cream that Sakura still held. "And for the fact that if we don't catch Riku, which is IMPOSSIBLE, we're in deep banana sundaes."  
  
"Alright! You can have your ice cream!" Sakura yelled and shoved the tub into Naoko's face. Naoko started eating as soon as her face touched the tub.  
  
Sakura opened the door and the few bishies who had not been bright enough to run away fell on the floor. "OUT OF MY WAY!" she roared. "We have a Riku to catch."  
  
"Riku?!? Who said Riku?" Natsumi popped out of nowhere.  
  
"We're going to catch Riku so we can catch Sora." Sakura replied, ignoring Naoko's interruptions about how the two would have to combat the Heartless.  
  
"................................... Did I give you permission to catch Riku?" Natsumi asked.  
  
"No.." Sakura said.  
  
"Did I give you permission to catch Sora?" Natsumi asked.  
  
"No..........."  
  
"Good!! Now, we need someone interesting to plot with Knives, so, go catch Riku!" Natsumi bounced off after Hikaru, who was dragging Link by his collar to teach him new tricks.  
  
Sakura stared at Natsumi's retreating figure. "Naoko... how come we have to listen to the project coordinator?"  
  
"Wha?" Naoko replied once again with a spoon in her mouth.  
  
"Aw, never mind. Lets go," Sakura sighed as they headed off toward the transport room.  
  
Sakura played with a bunch of little buttons on the computer again while searching for Riku, who had mysteriously disappeared from all radars in the game.  
  
"Hm..." Sakura mumbled. "Where would I be if I were Riku.." she said thoughtfully.  
  
"On top of a giant building?" Naoko suggested.  
  
Sakura only glared at her ice-cream-addicted friend. While Sakura was still searching, Naoko headed off to find another tub of ice cream.  
  
"DARN IT RIKU!! WHERE ARE YOU!!!!!!!" Sakura shouted after 20 minutes of searching for the MIA Riku.  
  
By now, most of the bishies that were already captured where standing in the doorway watching as Sakura was getting angry.  
  
Suddenly, Naoko walked back in, with even more ice cream this time. "Why don't you try on top of a building?" she repeated.  
  
Sakura glared at her. "Fine!" She snapped. She pushed some random buttons, looking on all the rooftops of the world, and some others.  
  
"That looks like him," Naoko said and pointed to a lone figure on top of a roof in one of the screens.  
  
"That's a...... OH MY GOD! It's Riku! Wow!" Sakura said. She pressed some more buttons. "Where is he......."  
  
"It looks like he is on top of the bishie preserve..." Naoko said thoughtfully. "But, that's silly."  
  
"Naoko... I think you're right again..." Sakura said as she examined the building in the screen.  
  
"Of course I am." Naoko said. "LETS CATCH RIKU-POOO!!"  
  
Sakura sweat dropped. "O.....ok."  
  
Sakura followed Naoko as she slowly made her way to the roof.  
  
"Um... why don't we walk a little faster?" Sakura asked.  
  
"We have to make sure that Riku-pooo doesn't suspect us. That way, we can sneak up behind him and catch him," Naoko explained.  
  
"I see..." Sakura mumbled.  
  
The two slowly climbed the stairs that not and hour ago, Sakura had run down with her brilliant plan to capture Sora. Since they were going so slow, Sakura decided to count the number of stairs.  
  
"1................................................2......................... .....................3............."  
  
Make sure you tell me how many there are Sakura-chan," Naoko said happily as she stuck another spoonful of ice cream in her mouth.  
  
"................45....................................46................... .............47.................."  
  
"Ho hum... hummm.... humpty dumpty sat on a wall...." Naoko sang quietly.  
  
When they finally made it to the top of the stairs Sakura slid down the wall. "230. Oi.... we need an elevator..."  
  
Naoko opened the door quietly and Sakura scrambled to get back on her feet to follow. As the entered the roof, Riku was sitting in the tanning chair with sunglasses on.  
  
Both girls sweatdropped. "Do you have your gear?" Naoko whispered to Sakura.  
  
Sakura smiled and pulled out a butterfly net, mallet, and stun gun.  
  
Naoko grinned back and took the net. "I have a plan...." she whispered to Sakura and started talking. Riku seemed not to notice them.  
  
"DOHODOHODOHO!!" Naoko yelled and jumped out from the door with her net. Sakura was nowhere to be seen. "I GOT YOU!!!" she slapped it down over him.  
  
Riku jumped up. "What?!? What do you want?"  
  
"I want you to take me to Sora." Naoko said.  
  
Riku snorted. "It's all about, Sora, isn't it?" he said. "First, he leaves me behind, then he lets me get taken by the Heartless." (A/N we were just a LIITLE pissed off at that......) "Why doesn't he just take Kairi away too?"  
  
"Well, they're in love..." Naoko said.  
  
Riku glared at her. "Thanks for telling me. Now I'll be all alone again."  
  
"You have me!!" Naoko said and glomped him. Suddenly, Sakura jumped out from behind the door and shot at him.  
  
Unfortunately, Riku wasn't really cool for nothing. He pushed Naoko off, dodged out of the way, pushed Naoko into the beam of the gun, and jumped off the building.  
  
Naoko gave a yell and fell to the ground, twitching. Sakura ran up. "I'M SO SORRY!! she cried.  
  
Naoko simply drooled a bit and twitched.  
  
The other bishies in the preserve who had followed the two captors up ran to them.  
  
Sakura looked around and the bishies in the doorway and spotted Q-Bert. She quickly ran over and grabbed his collar and took a running leap off the roof.  
  
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Q-Bert screamed.  
  
"IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!! " Sakura screamed as she tried to keep her skirt down as the fell from the roof.  
  
"SAKURA!!!!! THIS WAS A BAD IDEA!" Q-Bert shouted.  
  
"YOU THINK I DON'T REALIZE THAT NOW!?" Sakura shouted back.  
  
Sakura looked down at the rapidly approaching ground, suddenly, it started raining frogs.  
  
"WHAT DID YOU DO?!?!" Sakura shouted up at Q-Bert.  
  
Q-Bert looked down at his shirt that seemed to suddenly have a giant frog on that read "The Lord of the Frogs." He sweatdropped.  
  
Sakura looked down once more and then looked to see what gear she had. She noticed a little cherry blossom shaped latch on her belt. "What's this do?" she asked as she pushed the button and a large grappling hook came flying out and wrapped itself around a poll. Sakura's eyes widened as she started to swing towards the buildings window. Q-Bert quickly grabbed her hand as they both crashed through the window into a press conference.  
  
The speaker, who was standing by a little white board, stopped talking abruptly.  
  
"Uh................." Sakura said, at a loss.  
  
"We're terribly sorry!" Q-Bert burst out. "You see, we are filming a movie called Lord of the Frogs, which is kind of like a cross between the Birds and Mulan, and well, your building got in the way, and we crashed in!! We're sorry again!" He grabbed her waist and jumped out the window again. This time, they weren't so far from the ground, so they landed safely.  
  
"That was close..." Sakura said. "Where did you get that idea?"  
  
"Uh......." Q-Bert sweatdropped. "I kinda wanted to write a story like that."  
  
"I see........" Sakura sweatdropped too. "Well, I wonder which way Riku went..."  
  
Suddenly, a voice cried, "I can't believe you forgot me!!!" Stupid, never to be left behind, came up. It was floating in the air using a mini rocket launcher. "I'm hurt!!"  
  
"Hello, Stupid..." Sakura said unhappily.  
  
"HELLO TO YOU TOO!" Stupid said cheerfully.  
  
Q-Bert looked around. "People are starting to stare," he muttered. He grabbed Stupid and headed off for a nearby alleyway.  
  
Back with Naoko.  
  
Vash poked her. "Are you alright?" he asked her.  
  
Naoko simply drooled a bit more.  
  
Vash poked her again. "Uh... could we get a stretcher here?" he asked.  
  
A bishie disappeared and reappeared with a stretcher. "I'm not sure what good this will do... I mean... we don't have a doctor..." the bishie said quietly.  
  
"We'll worry about that later," Vash replied.  
  
He moved Naoko onto the stretcher and two other bishie each picked up one of the ends. As they made their way down the stairs Hikaru came running up.  
  
"IS IT TRUE!!! ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO CATCH RIKU?!?!?" she shouted at the unconscious Naoko.  
  
Naoko drooled some more.  
  
"FINE! I see how it is! Don't answer my question," Hikaru huffed and ran away.  
  
The bishies just stared at her retreating figure.  
  
"Well... let's keep moving," Vash instructed.  
  
When they made it to the hospital wing they laid Naoko out on one of the beds.  
  
"Does anyone know what to do?" a bishie asked.  
  
Just then Apricots walked by the open door.  
  
"What in blue blazes happened here?!?" he shouted as he noticed Naoko unconscious on the bed.  
  
"There was a little accident an Sakura accidentally shot Naoko with a stun gun," Vash explained.  
  
Apricots stared in awe. "Um.... try shocking her again. It might wake her up."  
  
"But, are you sure?" Vash asked anxiously.  
  
"Of course I'm sure! I have a PhD in medicine!" Apricots said. He walked over to a drawer and rummaged around. "Yes..." he muttered. "These look like the right things." He pulled out some shocky-things (A/N we don't know what they are called!) and plugged them in.  
  
"What about hooking her up to some machines?" Vash asked.  
  
"Eh...? oh, we don't need them." Apricots said and warmed the shock-things up. "Excellent..." he said, and shocked Naoko.  
  
Naoko's body jerked, her eyes shot open, she screamed "IM GOING TO KILL YOU THIS TIME SAKURA!!" and fell unconscious again.  
  
Everyone stared at the unconscious bishie captor, then at Apricots.  
  
"Um... did I mention it was a PhD in PLANT medicine?" he asked meekly.  
  
Syaoran, who had just joined the fray, got pissed. "WHO GETS A PhD IN *PLANT* MEDICINE!?" he yelled, trying too look like he didn't care about Naoko. In fact, all bishies in the preserve had gotten fond of their captors, but that's another story!  
  
"erm...." Apricots said.  
  
Vash started to cry. "Naoko!?" he sobbed. "Will I ever see your eyes again?!?"  
  
"Hm......... She's stopped drooling!!" Mooie announced.  
  
"So she is........" Apricots said thoughtfully. "Well then, that means she's getting better!!"  
  
"Unless the filthy human is dead," Knives stated.  
  
Everyone sweatdropped.  
  
Back with Sakura, Q-Bert, and Stupid................  
  
"Well, what do you have to tell us?" Sakura demanded.  
  
"I can help you track Riku!" Stupid said.  
  
"Is this thing actually useful?" Q-Bert asked suspiciously.  
  
Sakura sweatdropped. "Well... it does come in handy sometimes..."  
  
"SOMETIMES?!?!? I've always helped you..." Stupid whined.  
  
"Ah.... sorry..." Sakura sweatdropped again. 'must delete AI, must delete AI...'  
  
Q-Bert looked from Sakura to Stupid to Sakura to Stupid. "Shouldn't we be going now?"  
  
"Ah yes! Off we go!" Sakura said and shoved Stupid into her pocket.  
  
Sakura looked up and down the street for any signs of Riku. Suddenly she caught a glimpse of his hair blowing in the wind from behind a corner.  
  
"Excellent...." she said.  
  
She slowly made her way to the corner with Q-Bert following closely at her heals.  
  
'Here I am to get you my precious bishie...' Sakura thought.  
  
"WE'RE OFF TO CATCH A BISHIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, THE MOST WONDERFUL BISHIE OF THEM ALL!!!!" Stupid sang out.  
  
Riku, having very good hearing, took off running. Sakura pulled Stupid out of her pocket and threw in on the ground.  
  
"STUPID, YOU'RE STUPID!" She yelled.  
  
"I know I'm Stupid!" Stupid replied, in a reproaching tone. "That IS my name you know. You were there when the all-mighty Naoko christened me! Remember?"  
  
Sakura sweatdropped. "That's not what I meant..." she said.  
  
"Hey, What's that?" Q-Bert asked, pointing to a vortex that was unobtrusively existing in the middle of the road.  
  
"Um..." Sakura said as a car whizzed through and didn't come out the other side.  
  
"That's a vortex to bishie land..." Stupid informed them. "If you hurry, you might make it though before it closes!!" Stupid cried. Sakura and Q- Bert ran towards it. When they were about 20 feet away, three bishies popped out, preceded by none other than..... Kenshin.  
  
"Oh! So this is where it leads!" Joey said. He stepped out of the portal, looking around.  
  
"Hm... We seem to be in another world, that we are," Kenshin said.  
  
"Oh... I think were in the...... "Human" world...." Duo said.  
  
"You know what that means, you do," Kenshin said.  
  
"Bishie captors." Duo stated.  
  
"Maybe if we just jump back in the portal, they won't have time to report us..." Joey said.  
  
Back with Naoko:  
  
"Hm... that didn't seem to work..." Apricots stated as he pulled off a pair of rubber gloves. He was decked out in a full doctors uniform and Syaoran was dressed as a female nurse.  
  
"Is there a real reason as to why I have to dress like this!?" Syaoran shouted and pulled the little hat off.  
  
Apricots snickered. "I just wanted to see if you'd put it on!" he said and broke out in a fit of laughter.  
  
Syaoran glared at Apricots and stormed out of the room to go change.  
  
"Um... Apricots... Naoko is starting to twitch again..." a random bishie said.  
  
Apricots suddenly stopped laughing and became very serious. "Charge to 400!" he called out as he grabbed the shocker things.  
  
"But doctor!" another bishie cried in horror.  
  
"Just do it!" Apricots shouted as a Nike commercial began to play.  
  
A few minutes later.................  
  
"That wasn't pretty....." Vash said.  
  
"Yeah, but it needed to be done." Apricots said. He threw an empty pie box away. "I was starving."  
  
Vash looked at the table. "Hey!? Where's Naoko?" he asked.  
  
The said Bishie Captor had disappeared.  
  
"Erm..........." Apricots said. He turned to a random bishie. "Did you see where she went?"  
  
The bishie pointed at the doorway. Naoko was floating in it, with her head lying, slack, on her shoulder. She was deathly pale. Her body floated down the hallway, and right up to a fan girl eating some ice cream. All bishies who had been in the room followed her. "ice cream....................." she whispered. "Need...... ice cream.........."  
  
The girl whimpered and shrank against the wall.  
  
"Go on!" Apricots said and Vash advanced toward the girl.  
  
The girl whimpered, then held the ice cream out to the floating specter like Naoko.  
  
"THANKS!" Naoko said and popped out behind a random corner that usually isn't there, but is for right now.  
  
Everyone except Naoko looked from her, who looked very healthy and, well, not pale, and the floating Naoko.  
  
Naoko took the ice cream. "YUMMAY IN MY TUMMAY!" she said and ate it. She then turned to the bishies and the girls. "Hey! What's the matter?" she asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost!"  
  
Vash pointed at the floating figure.  
  
"Oh yeah!" she beamed. "fooled you guys, didn't I??" She started to laugh hysterically. "Wasn't that FUNNY guys?" she took a little remote control out of her pocket, pointed it at the floating Naoko, and clicked the button. The floating Naoko disappeared. "New holographic! perfect for catching bishies!!" she began to elbow Apricots. "That was funny, eh?"  
  
Apricots stared at her and made her swoon  
  
"No... fair..." Naoko said dreamily as she fell over.  
  
Back with Sakura and Q-Bert:  
  
Sakura stared wide-eyed at the three bishies. "oh... my... GOD!!!" she shouted and ran over the Kenshin.  
  
She jumped on his back and threw a net over his head. "GOT YOU!" she cried.  
  
"Oro...?" Kenshin mumbled as he fell over from the sudden attack.  
  
"I," Sakura said pointing to herself, "just caught you," she said pointing to Kenshin. Joey and Duo took off running.  
  
"HEY!" Sakura called after them absentmindedly releasing Kenshin from her grasp and he ran off following the two other bishies. "Oi....."  
  
"Maybe it's a sign," Q-Bert suggested.  
  
"Eh?" Sakura asked as she turned to face him.  
  
"Maybe you weren't supposed to catch them today," Q-Bert finished.  
  
"And how would you know?" Sakura asked. Q-Bert shrugged.  
  
"EXCUSE ME!!!" Stupid shouted. "Aren't we on a mission to catch Riku anyway. My readings say that his is directly above us traveling at 10 mph." Sakura and Q-Bert looked up and saw Riku streaming through the air on a small jet packed backpack. 


	19. Riku captured! And the Quest for Sora!

Erm. we, the authoresses, are sorry for the mistakes, discrepancies, and, well, just plain old inconsistencies in this chapter because it was about a month in between that we started and ended it.. Probably. Naoko has tried to fix it all, but with saving the world and eating ice cream, she just can't spot it all. We hope you enjoy it anyways!!  
  
Sakura and Q-Bert sweatdropped. "How are we going to get up there?" Q-Bert asked.  
  
Sakura didn't answer. She was busy sighting down a suction-cup arrow with a string attached to the end. "Grab hold!" she said and shot the arrow.  
  
"That's not going to do anything..." Q-Bert said.  
  
Sakura glared at him and grabbed at the quickly leaving sting and grabbed his hand. "So you SAYYYY!" her accusation turned into a scream as she was lifted up into the air, with Q-Bert hanging on for his dear life.  
  
"I don't even think I should question anything anymore..." Q-Bert muttered to himself.  
  
"NO, YOU SHOULDN'T!! NO ONE SHOULD QUESTION A BISHIE CAPTOR!!" Sakura yelled.  
  
Q-Bert sweatdropped. They were rising into the air very quickly and with so much wind going by the hand that Sakura was using to hold onto the rope began to slip.  
  
"Oh crap..." Sakura mumbled as she wrapped her legs around the rope and fell backwards. She was now hanging upside down and crying. "I wanna go home!!"  
  
"Home you say... highjacker?" Riku's voice called down.  
  
Sakura looked up at Riku with teary eyes and nodded the best she could. "Or at least back to solid ground."  
  
Now Riku, being the kind and considerate bishie that he was landed on the ground and offered to take Sakura back to the Preserve.  
  
"On one condition though," Riku began, "you can't catch me."  
  
Sakura smiled mischievously. "Ok!" she agreed happily."  
  
Riku began leading the two back to the preserve.  
  
"Sakura.... You just agreed not to catch a bishie, you do realize that don't you?" Q-Bert questioned.  
  
"I thought you weren't going to question what I do anymore..." Sakura said as she turned to face him.  
  
Q-Bert sweatdropped.  
  
"Besides, *I* can't catch him... but Naoko can," she whispered in his ear.  
  
Riku landed outside the preserve. Unfortunately for him, it was fan girl visiting time, and his very loud landing didn't go unnoticed.  
  
"OH MY GOD!! THEY CAUGHT RIKU!" one random girl screamed and glomped the unfortunate bishie.  
  
"Heh heh heh..." Sakura said to herself. "If only Naoko would get out here...."  
  
"Sorry, girls! I'm not caught!" Riku said and struggled to get out.  
  
"Um..." Q-Bert said. "Shouldn't you get Naoko?"  
  
"I want to keep an eye on Riku though," Sakura responded.  
  
"I'll go get her then," Q-Bert said. He walked inside.  
  
KABOOM! "WELCOME TO THE--- oh wait," Portal Girl said. "You're a bishie. Never mind!!" she said cheerfully and reloaded her grenade launcher.  
  
"Um.. where's Naoko?" Q-Bert asked her.  
  
Portal Girl stared at him. "Don't you know?" she asked.  
  
"Um...."  
  
"Naoko still hasn't recovered from being shot with a phaser," she said.  
  
"Yeah, I have," Naoko said and walked out.  
  
"Wow!" Portal Girl said. "What's it like being electrocuted?"  
  
Naoko thought for a minute. "It tastes like......... chicken..." she said thoughtfully.  
  
Portal Girl gave her a weird look. "And people think I am strange..." she said to herself.  
  
"Oh! Sakura needs you to go out front and catch Riku, she promised him that *she* wouldn't catch him, so you need to," Q-Bert told Naoko.  
  
Naoko sighed. "I can't leave her to do anything, can I?"  
  
Q-Bert just shrugged.  
  
"Well, oki doki then!" she cried and walked out of the registration desk. "Sakura!!! I hear you need my assistance!"  
  
"Naoko! Great timing! Sic him!" Sakura called back and pointed to Riku.  
  
"Hey! What gives!? You said you wouldn't catch me!" Riku protested.  
  
"Yes, *I* wouldn't catch you, but Naoko wasn't there, so she didn't promise," Sakura replied smiling.  
  
Riku glared at Sakura. "Do you REALLY want to do this?" he asked her.  
  
Sakura looked from Naoko to Riku. "Yep," she said. "It's not me who is going to be beat up."  
  
"HEY!" Naoko said. "Maybe I just WON'T capture him for you AFTER all!!"  
  
"But, what about Sora?" Sakura asked, her eyes filling with tears.  
  
"you're the one who wanted to catch him so much..." Naoko pointed out.  
  
Natsumi and Hikaru wandered out. "Hi, were going to go see Finding Nemo.... Again...." she said.  
  
"Have fun!" Naoko said.  
  
Hikaru looked at Riku. "Isn't that the guy you were trying to catch?"  
  
"Erm...." Sakura said.  
  
Natsumi pounced on him. "YOURE CUTE!!" she exclaimed and hugged him.  
  
"That's good enough for me! Riku, you are now part of the Bishie Preserve. You rights will be read to you once we are inside!" Sakura exclaimed.  
  
Riku looked utterly confused. "Wha?"  
  
Ca-chan and Mooie came out with handcuffs, closely followed by Inu Yasha and Knives.  
  
"You have been leaving me here quite a bit lately..." Inu Yasha said in a rather ticked voice.  
  
"Well.. you see... there's a reason for that..." Sakura started. "But Naoko can tell you all about that!" With that, Sakura took off running into the preserve as fast as she could to get away from Inu Yasha.  
  
Inu Yasha turned to Naoko. "Well... what's the reason?" he said rather annoyed.  
  
"Uh... well.... um... we thought... that is would be good practice for other bishies to go with us as well! Yeah, that's it!" Naoko said and took off running after Sakura.  
  
Inu Yasha stared after them. "I can't believe it..."  
  
"LOOK!! ITS INU YASHA!!" A girl screamed and Inu Yasha was overwhelmed by a horde of fan girls.  
  
"Get off me!!" Inu Yasha snarled and tried to pull himself out of the pile, but to no avail.  
  
Back with Sakura and Naoko...  
  
"And you have the right to refuse and fan girl, no matter what she threatens to do to you if you don't marry her," Sakura finished.  
  
"You said I wasn't going to be caught..." Riku said.  
  
"No, I said *I* wouldn't catch you," Sakura corrected.  
  
"I'm always being betrayed." Riku turned his head away.  
  
"I didn't betray you. Here, have a cup of hot chocolate," Sakura said and handed him a cup.  
  
Riku looked at her wearily. Sakura sighed.  
  
"Ok, how about we catch Sora and Kairi, and bring them back here and hold a huge reunion with a lot of food?" Sakura asked.  
  
"Food... what kind of food?" Riku asked.  
  
"Anything you want! Our new cook'll make it!" Sakura said enthusiastically.  
  
"Well... in that case... I guess this won't be so bad. Yeah, ok. I'll do!" Riku replied.  
  
"Great!" Sakura exclaimed.  
  
Naoko just smiled.  
  
"Now..." Sakura said. "If you could just tell us where they would be......"  
  
"That's easy," Riku said.  
  
Naoko and Sakura looked at each other, excited.  
  
"Somewhere no one can ever get access to."  
  
Naoko sighed and Sakura shook her head.  
  
"Except of course, me."  
  
Naoko looked up. "you'll tell us, won't you?"  
  
"Of course, but only if you take me with you," was his reply.  
  
"Inu Yasha isn't going to be happy...." Sakura said.  
  
"Yeah, but, who cares, right?" Naoko said.  
  
Some visiting fan girls popped in. "HEY!! THEY FINALLY CAUGHT RIKU!!" one shouted and glomped the said bishie.  
  
They were followed by a stampede of fan girls, and the said Vash of the Stampedes (A/N oh... that sounded stupid....)  
  
"Hey! You caught him!" he said to the two Captors.  
  
"Well, Natsumi did, but yes," Naoko said.  
  
Natsumi reached out and grabbed Naoko's hand. "I love you..." she said. (A/N we (Natsumi and Naoko) actually do that in real life! except its only a joke.....)  
  
Naoko put Natsumi's hand to her cheek. "I love me too...."  
  
Natsumi cleared her throat. "I LOVE YOOUUUU!" she sang at the top of her voice.  
  
"I LOVE MEEEE!!" Naoko returned.  
  
"LIKE THE SQUIRREL LOVES THE TREE!!"  
  
"LIKE THE FISH HATES THE GRASS!!"  
  
Sakura sweatdropped. "Oy vey...." she said. "I hope this won't happen too often."  
  
The other fan girls stopped maiming Riku to watch the scene.  
  
"WE LOVE HER/ME!!!! AND WE'LL /I'LL ALWAYS BE TOGETHER/WITH HER/MYSELF!!!" the girls howled together.  
  
Natsumi pulled her hand back and wiped a fake tear from her eye. "Beautiful," she sniffed.  
  
Naoko threw her hand out dramatically. "Extravagant."  
  
Natsumi put a hand to her chest. "It was lovely."  
  
Naoko closed her eyes. "Absolutely."  
  
"I demand my own office."  
  
"Impossible."  
  
"Darn..." Natsumi said. "Are you sure there aren't any?"  
  
"Well..." Sakura said. "There is the whole basement that is free... Its about 1600 square feet with a bathroom.... and a pool table."  
  
"I'll take it," Natsumi walked over to Sakura and grabbed her hand. "The Madness," she said.  
  
Hikaru looked around, spotted a random mole, and followed it.  
  
"Eh? HIKARU-CHAN!" Natsumi hollered. "Wait for meeeeee!!!" She ran off after Hikaru.  
  
"Sakura?" Naoko said.  
  
"Yes?" Sakura answered.  
  
"Why?"  
  
Sakura sweatdropped.  
  
Naoko shook her head in dismay. A little light bulb appeared next to Sakura's head and glowed brightly.  
  
"Naoko, I told her about the basement because now she will be too engrossed with the bathroom and the pool table that she wont bother us about the bishies we catch," Sakura said with a smile.  
  
Naoko raised an eyebrow at her. "Let's go... you acting smart scares me."  
  
"HEY!" Sakura shouted. "I resent that!"  
  
"I'm sure you do.... but then again... it's coming from me," Naoko replied.  
  
"True... let's get going, we have a Sora to catch," Sakura said and dragged Riku and Naoko off to the computer room.  
  
Riku sighed. "I'm always being dragged places. Why can't I walk? I have two feet," he said as he looked to Naoko.  
  
"Get used to it my friend, you'll be dragged a lot of places," Naoko replied.  
  
They entered the computer room and Sakura released her grasp on the two and headed straight for the computer.  
  
".........Now, if I were Sora, where would I go?" she mumbled.  
  
"To find Kairi!" Naoko interrupted Sakura's train of thought.  
  
"Well then, where is Kairi?" Sakura said. "We can't track her because she isn't a bishie."  
  
"Well... we could just track Sora then," Naoko said. "It would be easier."  
  
"True..." Sakura said.  
  
"Hey, can someone let me go?" Riku demanded again.  
  
"No! Because I have a cunning plan!" Naoko cried.  
  
"Yes?" Sakura asked. Naoko started to whisper in her ear.  
  
Sakura's eyes widened. "Bloody brilliant, I say!" she exclaimed.  
  
Sakura's eyes slide over and met Riku's eyes. A mischevious grin appearing on her face.  
  
"What are you planning?" Riku asked and started to take a few steps backwards.  
  
Sakura and Naoko took a few steps towards him and them jumped on him. They dragged him to their room where Sakura got out a lot of red and black fabric.  
  
"There, I'm all done," Sakura said and twirled around in front of a mirror.  
  
Riku, Naoko, and she, were all dressed as heartless, and pretty darn realistic ones too.  
  
"Sakura-chan... you played Kingdom Hearts too long..." Naoko said.  
  
Sakura just smiled.  
  
"I don't want to do this again... I was already part of this, I don't want to go back," Riku said.  
  
Sakura turned to him teary eyed. "Please Riku, you have to help me catch Sora.... I'm begging you."  
  
Riku sweatdropped and shook his head. "Yeah, sure, fine, whatever."  
  
Naoko looked a bit put out. "Why is it that my favorite colors are that of evil?"  
  
Sakura looked at her friend. "Do I even NEED to answer that?"  
  
Naoko stared back.  
  
Sakura sighed and said, "Sometimes I worry about you..."  
  
"No, really!! why?" Naoko said.  
  
Riku twiddled his fingers. "You like red and black you say?" he asked her.  
  
"No, I was saying it for fun," Naoko said sarcastically.  
  
Riku held out his hand to Naoko. "I think we are going to get along just fine!"  
  
Naoko stared at him. "Give me ice cream and I shall let you live."  
  
Riku sweatdropped.  
  
"Let's go already!" Sakura whined. "I wanna catch Sora!"  
  
"We're coming, we're coming!" Naoko whined back, trying to imitate Sakura.  
  
Sakura glared at Naoko.  
  
"What? I was just being like you," Naoko replied innocently.  
  
Sakura, Naoko, and Riku all exited the room.  
  
"As for you plan Naoko, we should just have to sit outside for a while and Sora will just come to us, right?" Sakura asked as the walked past Portal Girl.  
  
"Yeppers!" Naoko replied and waved to a confused looking Portal Girl.  
  
Portal Girl shrugged and shot her bazooka. "HAVE A GOOD DAY!" she shouted after them.  
  
Sakura looked at her watch, with was a super-duper watch that showed what time it was in every land. "We have about four hours," she said.  
  
"Would you mind telling me where we are going?" Riku asked.   
  
"Here," Naoko said and sat down in front of the door.  
  
"Won't we scare off customers?" Sakura asked as she watched a couple of fan girls shriek in terror, then run away.  
  
"Not if we put HIM in front!" Naoko said. The two girls grinned at each other, then looked at Riku.  
  
"I'm not going to get hurt, will I?" he asked meekly.  
  
"We can make sure you don't get TOO hurt..." Sakura said.  
  
"Oi! Mooie! Ca-chan! we need your help!" Naoko shouted.  
  
Mooie and Ca-chan appeared directly in front of Sakura and Naoko.  
  
"You called?" they both said in unison.  
  
"Yes... we need you to protect Riku here from the fan girls. We're waiting to catch Sora. Sakura says he'll be here in about 4 hours... so.. yeah," Naoko explained.  
  
"Sakura-onne-chan!!" Hikaru called from the door to the preserve.  
  
"What!?" Sakura called back, not even looking towards her sister.  
  
"I heard you're going to catch Sora!" Hikaru called again.  
  
"Well, we won't catch him with you yelling from there! He'll hear you!" Sakura shouted back.  
  
Hikaru walked over. "Link and Apricots want to know where you went to," she said to Naoko as she walked past her.  
  
Sakura was walking around trying to get a clear image of Sora on her watch that was half satellite. "ahh... there you are my sweet.... just a little while longer, then you'll be all mine... yes... my precccccccioussssssss."  
  
"Ano.... Sakura-onne-chan?" Hikaru asked as she tapped Sakura's shoulder.  
  
"Yes, Hikaru-chan?" Sakura asked turning to face her.  
  
"I was just wondering... this guy Q-Bert keeps looking for you too. He said he had something to ask you," Hikaru informed Sakura.  
  
"Um... well, tell him I'll be back in like 6 hours," Sakura said.  
  
Hikaru skipped back into the preserved and waved to Portal Girl.  
  
"Welcome back!" Portal Girl shouted as she shot off another round. 


	20. Sora and The Adventure at the Clothing S...

Three and a half hours later....  
  
"This is boring!!" Naoko cried.  
  
"Huh...?" Sakura said. She had found a clear image of Sora.... only it was hanging upside down from a branch in a nearby tree.  
  
"Speak for yourself!! Riku said as he ran behind ca, who was trying to create a new equation, except this time is was for cake. A screaming hoard of fan girls followed him, much to the dismay of Ca, who was once again interrupted from her mathematics.  
  
Mooie sat down next to Naoko. "I know, but its only a half an hour to go!" she said cheerfully and twirled a grenade by the ring.  
  
Naoko paled. "Erm... where did you get that?" She asked.  
  
"Portal girl!" Mooie said. "I bought it off her."  
  
The said employee walked out of the preserve. "hello!" she said. "I see you are all here!"  
  
"Hmm?" Sakura said and looked up from her screen for a second.  
  
"Yes," Naoko said. "and it's really boring."  
  
"Just WHAT are you doing?" Portal Girl asked and sat down next to them.  
  
"Trying to catch Sora," Mooie responded.  
  
Portal Girl looked around. "I see no Sora around here..." she said.  
  
"Sakura claims that he will come here in about..." Naoko looked at Mooie's watch "Twenty minutes."  
  
"AHOY MATIES!" Rika's voice called from above.  
  
Everyone looked up. Rika was in a rowboat that was floating in the air. Her 1000-something cookbooks were with her.  
  
Rika landed her boat in the tree, right on top of Sakura and knocked her out of the tree. Sakura lost the transmission of Sora and fell to the ground. She quickly looked at the watch.  
  
"You," she said and glared at Rika. "How could you!?"  
  
"Sorry deary, you were in the way," Rika replied. "I have a new concoction that I want you to try."  
  
Sakura slowly backed up. There was a loud buzzing sound in the air followed by some strange music. Sakura's head quickly shot up to see a multicolored ship heading straight for them.  
  
"WE'RE GONNA CRASH!!!!!!!!!" a squeaky voice yelled.  
  
"SHUT UP DONALD! I'M TRYING!" a male's voice called out.  
  
Sakura eyes lit up. "Sora..." she said quietly.  
  
Naoko turned to Sakura. She was standing directly in the planes crash path.  
  
"Sakura!!!" she yelled and leaped at her, pushing her out of harms way.  
  
The plane crash-landed an inch away from the building's wall. Sakura and Naoko slowly walked over to the ships door and opened it. The end of a keep found it's way out the door and right in front of Sakura's face.  
  
"Heartless... I thought I got rid off you all," the male's voice called out.  
  
As the voice's head appeared through the door Sakura's eyes lit up even more.  
  
"SORA!" she shouted and glomped him.  
  
"What the?!" Sora shouted back and tried to swing Sakura off of him. "Get off!"  
  
In the process of trying to remove Sakura from Sora's back, the hood on the Heartless costume, revealing Sakura's shoulder length brunette hair and dark brown eyes.  
  
"Hello there," Sakura said happily.  
  
"What... what are you?" Sora asked confused.  
  
Riku and Naoko both removed their hoods as well.  
  
"Riku... what are you doing here?" Sora asked. "I've been looking everywhere for you."  
  
"Really?" Riku asked looking at Sora.  
  
Sora nodded.  
  
Sakura sobbed loudly. "It's so sweet! A reunion of friends! It's party time! Oh, and Sora, you are now part of the bishie preserve. You were officially caught 3.64532 seconds ago."  
  
"Caught?" Sora asked questioningly.  
  
"Just smile and nod, Sora, just smile and nod," Naoko told him.  
  
Sakura lead Sora and the others back into the preserve where Portal Girl greeted them warmly.  
  
"WELCOME NEW BISHIE! ENJOY YOUR STAY!" she shouted and set off a bomb and some fireworks.  
  
Sora winced. "This isn't what I was expecting..."  
  
"Nothing is, anymore," Riku said dryly.  
  
"Shh!!" Naoko cried to Portal Girl. "He's easily scared!"  
  
"I am not!" Sora responded.  
  
"Pshhh!! Are too!" Naoko responded.  
  
"What have we here? Another dangerous suspect???" Link demanded and popped into of the hallway and stared suspiciously at Riku.  
  
"No... He's just another hero..." Naoko said.  
  
"I am?" Riku asked.  
  
"He is?!" everyone else demanded.  
  
"You are too, pooky," Naoko said and patted Riku on the arm. "At least in my eyes..."  
  
Everyone sweat dropped.  
  
Rika flew back into the preserve. "Why do you do this to me?!? Why don't you tell me when you are coming inside?!"  
  
"To miff you!" Sakura said. She then giggled. "Miff... how funny!"  
  
Mooie and Ca walked in. "These two want to see Sora," Ca said and pointed to Goofy and Donald.  
  
"WELCOME TO THE - " Naoko cut Portal Girl off by clobbering her.  
  
"Ow!" Portal Girl said. "That hurt!!"  
  
"I know..." Naoko said and rubbed her shoulder where she had hit the said person.  
  
"What say we have a party!! And everyone is invited!!" Sakura said and posed, one hand in the air, much like a disco pose.  
  
"Yay!! I get to cook more!" Rika said.  
  
"Yay!! I get ice cream!!" Naoko said.  
  
"It's not like it's a special occasion," Link pointed out. "You eat it all the time."  
  
"............................................................... So?"  
  
Sakura cocked her head at Link. "Well aren't we Mr. Poopy-pants today. Are you still angry that Apricots won the contest for Naoko?"  
  
Link glared at her then turned away.  
  
"I'll take that as a yes," Sakura said and turned back to Sora. "So, tell me, what was it like beating the crap out of Ursula?"  
  
Sora blushed slightly. No one had ever paid this much attention to him before. "It was difficult.. swimming and fighting is kinda hard to do."  
  
Sakura stared at him in awe.  
  
"Hey! We have a mission, we have to find the king!" Donald shouted.  
  
Sakura turned to Donald. "King Mickey?"  
  
Sora turned to Sakura. "You know King Mickey?"  
  
Sakura nodded. "I saw him just the other day... he was running around in a black trench coat."  
  
"Garsh, that doesn't sound like the king to me," Goofy said.  
  
"King Mickey does have big ears and a tail, right?" Sakura asked using her hands to show them.  
  
"Yesh," Donald replied.  
  
"Then it was he, I'm sure of it. He'll be back in a few days. I told him that we'd give him room and board for free," Sakura smiled.  
  
"Well, I guess we're staying here then," Donald said.  
  
"Hold on just one moment," Natsumi, who had just appeared in the door way said. "Which of you were caught?"  
  
Riku and Sora raised their hands.  
  
"And which of you were not caught?"  
  
Donald and Goofy raised their hands.  
  
"We don't allow free loaders. Have a nice day," Natsumi said and pushed Donald and Goofy out the door.  
  
Sakura and Naoko stared at Natsumi.  
  
"The madness of being Projects Coordinator," she laughed evilly.  
  
Sakura turned her attention back to Sora and Riku. "Off to the cafeteria for you two, it's almost time for the feast!"  
  
Sora turned to Riku. "Feast? What feast?"  
  
Naoko twisted her hands. "We shall be eating you two!! BWAHAHAHAHA!!"  
  
The bishies stared at her. Riku and Sora looked a bit scared.  
  
"Don't pay any attention to her," Rika said. "She's just crazy."  
  
Naoko shook her head. "No one ever takes me seriously...."  
  
"I shall go announce to everyone that we are having a party!!" Sakura said.  
  
"I'll help you cook, Rika!" Naoko said.  
  
"I'll organize a decorating party, and send the rest to you, Rika," Sakura said.  
  
"EE... Just send Syaoran. He is the only bishie that can really cook," Rika responded.  
  
"What are we doing going with you, then?" Riku demanded.  
  
"I TOLD you, we are going to eat you!!" Naoko said.  
  
Rika closed her eyes and hit Naoko with a ladle. "Shut up." She said. "You two," she said. "Shall run errands."  
  
"Yay?" Sora said  
  
"Don't worry, working with Rika is fun," Naoko said.  
  
"If you don't get on my bad side," Rika added.  
  
"Hehhhh..." Naoko said.  
  
Sora looked a little uneasy.  
  
"Ne, Sora-kun, are you ok?" Sakura asked.  
  
Sora nodded slowly.  
  
"You know, if it's about Kairi--" she started.  
  
"You know where she is?!? Tell me!" Sora demanded.  
  
Sakura looked up at him. "All you have to do is look in your own heart. She'll always be there."  
  
Naoko sighed. "Sakura, that was the deepest thing you ever said."  
  
"I know, cool isn't it?" Sakura replied.  
  
Sora stared at her. She was right, Kairi would always be in his heart and his heart would lead him to her. Riku watched and Sakura started telling Sora about all of the other bishies there at the preserve. They were both laughing as she told him about the time when Q-Bert had somehow managed to summon frogs when they were falling off the building after Riku.  
  
"Hey wait up!" Riku called after them and ran to catch up as the two entered the cafeteria.  
  
Q-Bert ran up to Sakura. "Where have you been?"  
  
"Uh... maybe out doing my job?" Sakura asked as she turned to him with a questioning face.  
  
Q-Bert blushed. "Well, I didn't, I mean... sorry."  
  
Sakura smiled. "That's ok. I need your help decorating, we're having a party this evening."  
  
Syaoran, followed by the rest of the bishies, walked over to where Sakura was standing and listened in as she explained the party.  
  
"Ok, so, this evening, you all have to wear a tux because it's a formal party," Sakura finished.  
  
The bishies looked uneasy.  
  
"You all have a tux, right?" Sakura asked.  
  
Some of the bishies nodded and some of them started to slink off away from the group.  
  
Sakura sighed. "Ok, I'll have some tuxes made for you tonight, pick them up at 6, the party starts at 7:30. So, se you then!"  
  
The group started to disperse when Sakura realize that Rika wanted Syaoran in the kitchen.  
  
"Oh, Syaoran. Rika, our cook, wanted your help in the kitchen, so could you go give her and Naoko a hand please?" she asked.  
  
Syaoran shrugged and headed off towards the kitchen.  
  
Sakura twiddled her fingers. "Now... time to create the decorating committee..." She walked into the bishie room and looked around. "Not much here..." she said. She turned around and was about to leave, when she heard a small sound coming from the direction of the forest. "heh heh....." She walked over to a random tree and kicked it. "INU YASHA!" she bellowed.  
  
"What?" was the reply.  
  
"I need your help!" Sakura told him.  
  
"Bah... you don't seem to need it when you capture bishies anymore," he returned.  
  
"Well, you see, Naoko and I are big girls now! We can do it on our own! Now, hurry up and get down before I invite Kagome here for a little visit...."  
  
Inu Yasha jumped down from a tree a couple of feet away. "What do you need?" he asked flatly.  
  
"I need a decorating committee, and you are now on it!" she said. "Now, go round up all of the other bishies that are hiding and report to me in the dining hall."  
  
"Isn't that a bit small?" Inu Yasha asked. "Why don't we have it in the gym?"  
  
"Excellent..." Sakura said. She saluted Inu Yasha, said, "I'm counting on you," and turned around to head to the gym.  
  
~In the Kitchen~  
  
"Can I have this?" Naoko asked, holding up a tub of ice cream.  
  
"When you help me," Rika returned.  
  
"But!!"  
  
"Hey!" Riku said. "We're not here to complain, are we?"  
  
"Well, you might not be," Naoko returned. She picked up a giant knife. "Can I have THIS?" she asked.  
  
"Sure!" Rika said and beamed at the bishie captor.  
  
"Heh heh....."  
  
"Um... are you sure that is safe?" Sora asked as Naoko grabbed a bunch of carrots and started chopping them into tiny, tiny pieces.  
  
"If she causes trouble, call either Link or Apricots. They'll keep her under control." Syaoran told them.  
  
Naoko gave a particularly loud chop. "That's not fair!" she whined.  
  
"IT is when you threaten us!" Sora said.  
  
Naoko turned around indignantly. "Have I threatened you?"  
  
"Well," Riku said. "With your continuous insuations or outright statements that we are going to be the main course, I would say you are."  
  
Naoko grumbled and continued chopping while glaring menacingly at a nearby pot.  
  
~In the gym~  
  
"Hm..." Sakura mumbled as she walked around in circles inspecting every inch of the gym. "I guess that would work there... and that thing would definitely have to go over there."  
  
"Erm... Sakura-onee-chan?" a voice called from the doorway.  
  
"Yes?" Sakura replied and turned to see who was calling her name.  
  
It was Cael and he seemed to be troubled by something.  
  
"Um.. Onne-chan, am I invited to this party too?" he asked.  
  
"Of course you are Cael. We wouldn't leave you out of it for anything," Sakura replied and wrapped him in a hug.  
  
"Ok, I just wanted to make sure," he said and hugged her back. "Um... I have another question too."  
  
Sakura cocked her head. Cael sure seemed to be in a questioning mood right now.  
  
"Well, I was just wondering..."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Well... what exactly is going to happen tonight? I mean, what is it that you have planned? Are you expecting more bishies to be attracted to the party atmosphere so you and Naoko-san can catch them?" he asked looking down at his feet.  
  
"Cael, tonight is a feast to celebrate the one year anniversary of Naoko and my arrival here at the preserve.... and the reunion of two friends, Sora-kun and Riku-kun," Sakura replied smiling. "Now, go get cleaned up a bit. And find Q-Bert, he'll help you get ready.  
  
Cael nodded enthusiastically and ran out of the gym looking for Q-Bert.  
  
"He sure is a sweet kid..." Sakura said to herself as she continued the envisioning of the party tonight. "I wonder if Naoko realizes that it's our one year anniversary..."  
  
Inu Yasha enter the gym followed by a long line of bishies.  
  
"You're here!" Sakura cried happily.  
  
"Humph," was Inu Yasha's only reply.  
  
"Anyway, ok, you 6," she said and pointed to a group of bishies, "will be in charge of hanging that box of lights that are shaped like stars." She pointed to a box of yellow sparkly lights sitting next to a ladder. "Just to warn you though, if you break any of them I will hunt you down and chop you into little pieces and bury in the backyard so my dog can later dig up the remains of you bones and chew on them," she said darkly.  
  
The six bishies sweatdropped and headed over to the box of lights.  
  
"Inu Yasha, I would like you and 3 other bishies to hang the curtains on the walls and tie them back with the gold ribbon over there," Sakura instructed and pointed to 5 large boxes labeled 'curtains and ribbon.'  
  
Inu Yasha pointed to 3 bishies and headed over there.  
  
"Ok, the rest of you I'm putting in charge of setting up the tables. I do hope that you have some sense of style, because if you didn't you really wouldn't be bishies, now would you?" she said more to herself than the other bishies. "Well now, I'm off to get all the tuxes. Have fun, and I hope to be surprised by how good this place looks when I get back. Get it? got it? good."  
  
Sakura walked out of the gym and down to the kitchen to tell Naoko that she'd be back in about 45 minutes. When she got there a pot flew out the door and there was loud screaming.  
  
"NAOKO NO!!! YOU CAN'T FRY HIM! HE'S A HUMAN BEING FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!" Rika's voice rang out.  
  
Sakura peeked her head in the door. "Am I intruding on anything?"  
  
Naoko was attempting to force Sora into a pan of boiling hot oil, but Sora, by chance really, had grabbed a hold of the rack that hung from the ceiling and was holding on for dear life.  
  
"No Sakura-chan, I was just trying to show Sora here how to put rice patties into oil properly so they don't break up," Naoko explained.  
  
Sakura gave a doubting look. "Well, can I take Sora with me? I need to pick up some tuxes for the bishies tonight. Is there anything you need while I'm out Rika-chan?"  
  
"Nah, that's ok. thanks for asking though!" Rika replied.  
  
Sora let go of the rack and ran over to Sakura, almost hugging her in relief.  
  
Riku walked out of a supply room armed with potatoes. He stopped, looked at the quaking Sora and Naoko, whose face was turning purple. "What's going on here?" he asked.  
  
"ahh....... I can't take it anymore..." Naoko said. She burst out laughing and Rika joined her.  
  
"teaching........" Rika started, tears streaming down her face.  
  
"Sora....." Naoko continued, and grabbed onto Rika for support.  
  
"Rice paddies!" Rika said and sank to the ground, Naoko following her as the support.  
  
The two continued to laugh until Naoko started hyperventilating and collapsed.  
  
"Eh.........." Sakura said.  
  
Riku looked at the two laughing girls then to the quacking Sora and back to the two girls.  
  
"I'm not going to ask anymore..." he said.  
  
"Uh... anyway... yeah. Let's go Sora," Sakura said and took Sora's hand and led him out of the kitchen and to the front door.  
  
"HAVE A--" Portal Girl started.  
  
"Don't even think about it," Sakura said and walked out the door followed my Sora.  
  
As they walked down the street an old man came up to Sakura.  
  
"My dear, would you happen to have any idea where the nearest restroom would be?" he asked.  
  
"Uh..." Sakura replied. "No, I wouldn't, I'm sorry."  
  
"That's fine my dear," the man said and continued walking.  
  
"What was that about?" Sora asked Sakura.  
  
"I haven't the foggiest idea..." Sakura replied.  
  
They continued walking and soon arrived at a very large clothing shop. When they entered Sakura was immediately dragged away by some girl and off towards a dressing room.  
  
"Hey!" Sora called after the girl. "What am I supposed to do..."  
  
"Come with me sir. I will give you the perfect evening wear," a voice behind Sora said.  
  
Sora turned around quickly and came face to face with a very tall and pale man.  
  
"Uh... I just came here with Sakura, she was dragged off, and all we needed were some tuxes. I think that's what she said," Sora told the man and started to back up.  
  
"I see," the man replied. "We'll get the sorted out after we dress you in the perfect evening wear."  
  
"But, I don't need any!" Sora demanded.  
  
"That's what they all say," the pale man said and grabbed Sora's collar a dragged him off towards the other end of the store.  
  
"But, noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" Sora cried as he disappeared around a corner.  
  
~With Sakura~  
  
"Ah..." The woman said. "You would look wonderful in green."  
  
"eh?" Sakura had time to say before a dress was thrown into her hands and she was shoved into a dressing room.  
  
~With Sora...~  
  
"Hm.... black is a good color," the pale man said and examined a room full of black tuxes.  
  
"Erm... They're all black..." Sora said.  
  
"That's why it is good."  
  
~Back at the preserve....~  
  
"OH MY GOD!! IT'S GOING TO EXPLODE!!" Rika screamed and flew towards the microwave.  
  
Riku, Syaoran, and Naoko watched as Rika opened the door, took an egg out, and threw it out a random window. It exploded. (A/N: that really happens, too!! my German teacher knew someone who died from a microwaved egg. The woman bit into it and it blew the roof of her mouth out. so, kids, NEVER MICORWAVE EGGS!!!)  
  
"Who did that?" Naoko asked dryly.  
  
Riku raised a hand,.  
  
Syaoran and Naoko hit him on the head at the same time. "Don't," they said.  
  
Portal Girl, followed by Hikaru burst into the room.  
  
"Who's been stealing my grenades?!" Portal Girl demanded.  
  
"It wasn't it was - "Rika started. Naoko whipped her hand over the cook's mouth.  
  
"Nothing!" Naoko finished. Everyone sweatdropped.  
  
Sakura and Sora staggered back into the kitchen looking scared out of their minds.  
  
"Sakura-chan? Are you ok?" Naoko asked.  
  
Sakura stared at her friend with distant eyes. She was dressed in a long sparkling emerald green spaghetti strapped dress and had a transparent overlay of shimmering gold on it. Her hair was pulled up into a messy, but very elegant looking bun and she had two emerald green chopsticks in her hair. Weaved throughout her hair were gold ribbons and little gold stars.  
  
"Help... me..." she gasped and fell to the floor.  
  
Naoko and the others in the kitchen looked alarmed.  
  
"What... happened?" Riku asked.  
  
Sora walked in looking half dead. He was dressed in a black tux with tails hanging down in the back and had a charcoal(sp?) button up shirt on with no tie. the last few buttons were left undone and his messy brown hair was still left untouched. He slid down the wall next to Sakura and lay flat on his stomach wheezing.  
  
"Oh dear...," Rika said and walked over to them.  
  
Sakura looked up at her. "Never, never go to that clothing store..."  
  
Apparently, the rest of the bishies had heard the commotion and came running to the kitchen. A few of them gasped as they saw a fellow bishie and captor lying on the ground. Q-Bert and Cael wiggled their way to the front of the crowed and stood in awe staring at the two.  
  
"Your... your tuxes... are out there," Sakura said and gave a quick wave of her hand pointing back towards the entrance.  
  
"Ne, Sakura-chan, tell us what happened," Naoko urged.  
  
"It was.... horrible," Sora said.  
  
"Yes.... first the woman made me try on - " Sakura started to tell the tale  
  
"Countless tuxes... I don't know how many -" Sora continued.  
  
"There were, but there were a lot. Then, after the "best" one was chosen, - " Sakura said.  
  
"he decided that I needed another one, so I had to try them all on - "  
  
"Again.... when we finally got out of there, - "  
  
"we couldn't even carry them all...." Sora rolled over on his back wearily.  
  
"Aww!! You poor things!" Naoko said. She helped Sakura into a sitting position.  
  
"You and all the other girls have dresses too...."  
  
"He made me try on all the other guy's tuxes...: Sora mumbled.  
  
"What if some of them are taller than you, Sora?" Naoko asked.  
  
"Even then...."  
  
"Well!" Vash said. "It seems as if I don't need to wear one then!"  
  
Sora reached up and grabbed his coat. "No, I mean that he made me try on the ones that were too big, also.  
  
"You wonder about those people." Rika clucked. "It's as if they don't have many customers..."  
  
Sakura gave a long sigh and slid down the wall into a strange sort of slouch. "let me die in peace..."  
  
The other bishies made murmuring noises and gathered closer. Q-Bert picked Sakura up. "These two need some fresh air..." he said and turned around to leave.  
  
Vash picked Sora up. "Poor kid..." he said.  
  
"Bah... He is only a human," Knives said.  
  
"It's not like he didn't deserve it," Inu Yasha said and crossed his arms.  
  
Naoko brandished a knife at the bishies. "OUT!!" she bellowed. "WE NEED TO FINISH!"  
  
The bishies scattered like a flock of geese with a cat let loose in them.  
  
~Outside~  
  
"It's really nice out here," Sakura said as she took a deep breath. "Much better than that store, ne Sora-kun?"  
  
"Yep. It really is Sakura-chan," Sora replied and smiled.  
  
Q-Bert looked back and forth between the two and clenched his fists.  
  
"Sakura-san, are you sure you got *all* of the tuxes?" Vash asked.  
  
Sakura glared at Vash. "You want me to go back to that store?!?"  
  
"No, no!" Vash replied waving his hands in front of him. "I was just asking!" "Man... I didn't think she could be scary..." he thought. "I'll just go back inside now..."  
  
Vash quickly ran back into the preserve and a loud explosion erupted inside.  
  
"Well... I guess I should be going back in there. I need to hand out all of the tuxes and get the other girls ready too," Sakura said and stood up. "Gah... these shoes are killing my feet."  
  
Sakura bent down and took off a pair of gold colored high heels that had a star situated right on the top of her feet.  
  
"Much better," she said.  
  
She walked back into the preserve barefoot and left Q-Bert and Sora outside.  
  
"What are you trying to do?" Q-Bert asked suspiciously.  
  
"What do you mean?" Sora asked confused.  
  
Q-Bert glared at Sora and then walked back into the preserve. Sora stood there for a few minutes trying to figure out what Q-Bert meant when he asked him what he was trying to do. He shrugged and walked back into the preserve.  
  
"I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts!" Naoko was singing as she was taking some food on a platter into the dining room. They were all donuts. Vash was following her like a lost puppy, and other bishies were sorting through some of the tuxes, Sakura supervising them.  
  
"Ne, Naoko-chan! The room isn't quite ready yet," Sakura told her.  
  
"It looks ready to me." Naoko said, peeking into the gym.  
  
Sakura followed her and opened the door. Countless tables for food and eating at were set up, with different colored tablecloths at each table. Hung up in the air were star shaped lights and many Chinese lanterns. There was a karaoke bar on a stage on one side of the gym, and a dance floor right in the middle of the room.  
  
"Wowie! You guys can work fast!" Sakura said to the bishies who were lounging on some chairs. "Where did you find the other lanterns?"  
  
"In storage," one said.  
  
Naoko put the tray of donuts down on the nearest table, grabbed Vash's collar, and dragged him out of the room. "There's more stuff to do," she said.  
  
Sakura stared in awe at the room. Her decorating crew really knew how to decorate.  
  
"This is great you guys... I can't wait for tonight," Sakura said. "Well... it's 6:15, you had better start getting ready. Be back here by 7:30."  
  
The bishie's nodded and headed out to get dressed.  
  
"NAOKO-CHAN!! RIKA-CHAN!!! HIKARU-CHAN!!! NASUTMI-CHAN!!!!!!!!! PORTAL GIRL!!! MOOIE!!! CA-CHAN!!!!!!!!!! IT'S TIME TO GET READY!!" Sakura bellowed through the preserve.  
  
Each of the said girls cam running up to Sakura.  
  
"You have good timing Sakura-chan. We just finished with the food preparations(sp?)," Rika said.  
  
Sakura smiled. "Ok, go up to Naoko and my room and I'll meet you up there with your dresses," Sakura explained.  
  
The girls took off running up the stairs. Sakura walked back to the front of the preserve and picked up a green box with a silver bow on top.  
  
"I guess that lady at the shop wasn't all that bad. She did give me a good price on everything. Oh well, time to get ready," Sakura said to herself.  
  
She carefully walked up the stair so she wouldn't step on her dress. She was humming a little as she walked into the room.  
  
"It took you long enough!" Naoko said.  
  
Sakura shot her a glance and Naoko shut up immediately. She set the box down and took the silver ribbon off. She pulled out some square packages and some long bags. Each on had a name written on it.  
  
"AW!!!" Natsumi said. "Our names are written on them!"  
  
Sakura sweatdropped. "The woman did that while I was trying on the other dresses."  
  
Hikaru shook her head. "It must have been pretty uncomfortable trying on dresses that were for people shorter than you..."  
  
"Heh......"  
  
Right before Sakura could hand anything out, the door burst open. Ca screamed and Mooie yelled "Pervert!" before Q-Bert, Syaoran, and Sora ran in panting.  
  
"Fan girls... invited.. themselves..." Syaoran panted before he slammed the door shut.  
  
"........................... Uh oh...." Rika said.  
  
Portal Girl gasped. "I haven't been doing my job!! What should I do?"  
  
"Arm everyone with machine guns and help us flush them out?" Naoko said.  
  
"Poor guys... I wonder what they are doing to the poor bishies..." Sakura said.  
  
"Let's go save Kni- I mean them!" Mooie said and rushed out of the door.  
  
Sakura and Naoko dashed after them, followed more slowly by Natsumi and Hikaru, who were discussing what songs they should sing together, Rika and Ca, who were discussing the best possible equation for stuffed mushrooms, and Portal Girl, who gave up her frantic search for some sort of weapon and ran out of the door after everyone else.  
  
When Portal Girl caught up, she saw all of the employees of the preserve watching the scene from behind a wall. All the fan girls and bishies were chatting quietly with one another, some flirting, or some comparing their adventures.  
  
"I'll get 'em!" Portal Girl said and hefted a semi-automatic machine gun.  
  
"Where did you get that" Sakura asked.  
  
Portal Girl smiled at them and said, "I keep it in my pants for crises like this," she said.  
  
All of the girls fell down, anime style, except for Mooie, who looked impressed.  
  
"It's like, everything is civil once they're in nice clothes..." Rika breathed.  
  
"Maybe they just don't want to mess up their dresses," Natsumi observed dryly as she watched a girl daintily pick up her dress and tiptoe over a dust bunny.  
  
"I wonder when the other girls are going to get here," Vash said, talking to Knives.  
  
"Who cares?" Knives asked, looking hopefully at the hallway that the girls were hiding in.  
  
"Aww! Knivesu! do you by any chance have a crush on Mooie?" Vash teased.  
  
"No!" Knives said quickly. "Her... violence interests me!!"  
  
"Well, it looks like everything is ok!" Hikaru said.  
  
Ca breathed happily. "people are interested in my equations!" she said and pointed to several bishies, who were looking at them curiously.  
  
"Eh....." Naoko said.  
  
"Well, we should go get dressed now," Sakura told the group.  
  
"Violins he says," Mooie said. "I'll show him violins...."  
  
"He said violence," Ca said before Sakura dragged her off. Everyone else followed them.  
  
~Back in the room~  
  
Sakura pulled up the bag labeled "Naoko" and unzipped the bag reveling a blood red strapless dress with a crescent moon cut out around where the belly-button would be. She also picked up a small box and opened it, revealing metallic silver slip on sandal heels with crescent moons on them. Also in the small box, was a bag of metallic silver ribbons and small moon clips.  
  
Naoko's eyes widened. "Sugoi (awesome)!!! That's so pretty Sakura-chan!" she exclaimed.  
  
Sakura smiled and handed the dress over to Naoko who happily ran to one of the bathrooms to change. Next Sakura picked up a back labeled "Portal Girl."  
  
"Ooh!! I hope it's black!" Portal Girl said happily.  
  
Sakura unzipped it to show a pure black dress with long sleeves that came to a point that went to her middle finger. Around the collar and ends of the sleeves was a thin layer of black lace. She picked up another one of the small boxes and opened it reveling black strapy shoes and black ribbons. Inside was also a black lace chocker with a small dragon charm hanging down. Portal Girl's eyes lit up.  
  
"Sakura! You're the best! Thank you!" she said and took the dress and headed off to another bathroom.  
  
"Hm... who should be next?" Sakura mumbled. "I know! Hikaru-chan!"  
  
She picked up another one of the bags and unzipped it. Inside was a sea- green dress with sleeves that went to Hikaru's elbows. Around the edges were small foam white wave designs. Inside another one of the smaller boxes was a pair of foam white slippers that looked perfect with the dress. On them were the same wave designs, yet this time, they were sea green. The hair accessories that were in the box consisted of small sea green and foam with sea shells, along with some sea-green ribbons. Hikaru ran up and hugged Sakura tightly then ran off to another bathroom.  
  
"Hm... who do we have left?" Sakura said and turned to the remaining girls.  
  
There, just about standing one on top of the others were Rika, Ca-chan, Mooie, and Natsumi. Sakura smiled. She pulled up another bag labeled "Natsumi."  
  
"HA! I won. Pay up Rika, we had a bet that I would be next," Natsumi said as she turned to Rika.  
  
Rika grumbled and handed over about 11 cents.  
  
"The madness!" Natsumi cackled and hopped up to where Sakura was standing.  
  
Natsumi's dress was a dark, midnight blue with small, embroidered, powder blue music notes. Natsumi's eyes lit up. The dress had only one thin strap that held it up over one shoulder and that strap was made from powder blue music notes.  
  
"The madness..." Natsumi said dreamily.  
  
In the smaller box that Sakura picked up was a pair of soft powder blue heels and some midnight blue and powder blue ribbons. Natsumi quickly snatched the dress from Sakura and ran off to another one of the many bathrooms.  
  
"Next is... Rika-chan," Sakura said with a smile.  
  
Rika squealed with delight. Sakura opened a bag in which a pale purple dress lay with long sleeves. All of the edges were lined with a much darker, richer purple that shimmered in the light. Centered at the top of the dress was a small simple rose that matched the trimming of the dress. In the other box, was a pair of dark purple sandals. Also, there were some dried roses in the box, that were, apparently, going to be used to decorate her hair.  
  
Rika looked as if she was about to faint. "You out-did yourself Sakura- chan."  
  
Sakura gave her and 'I know' look and handed her the dress.  
  
"I'm going to be next!" Mooie said.  
  
"And I'm going to be last!" Ca-chan said proudly.  
  
Sakura watched as the two discusses to possibilities of what their dresses would look like.  
  
"Oki doki, Mooie. You're up!" Sakura said.  
  
Mooie bounced over to her happily. "Come on! Open it already!"  
  
Sakura unzipped the bag and opened it showing a beautiful auburn colored dress with criss-crossing straps. Along the edges were small dark chocolate brown leaves that made it look like the moved with Mooie twirled around in the dress. In the box was a pair of dark chocolate brown heels with small auburn leaves on them.  
  
"Pretty..." Mooie said quietly.  
  
Sakura also pulled out a set of chocolate brown and auburn leaf hair clips for Mooie's short hair.  
  
"Yay! I'm next!" Ca said happily.  
  
Sakura lifted the last bag out of the box and opened it showing Ca a pale yellow dress with one-inch straps. Like Mooie's dress, it had a solid gold leaf pattern all around it. In the smaller box lay a pair of gold shoes and a small necklace with a golden leaf hanging down. Down in the bottom of the smaller box lay two simple gold ribbons. Ca-chan's eyes were sparkling and it almost looked like she was going to cry.  
  
"Thank you so much Sakura-chan!" she said and gave Sakura a small hug and hurried off to the last unoccupied bathroom.  
  
Naoko walked out and Sakura gestured for her to sit down so she could do her hair. Naoko quickly sat down and Sakura started her work. She pulled Naoko's hair into an elegant twist and clipped it up with the moon-shaped clips. After that she grabbed a few bobby pins and tied the ribbons in bows around them and stuck the pins into Naoko's twist. She sprayed on some hair spray and moved onto the next person.  
  
Next Mooie quickly sat down, she was already dressed and she was one of the last people to go into the bathroom. Sakura sweatdropped. She brushed Mooie's hair back and did about six little twists, alternating clipping each with a chocolate brown or auburn leaf. Once again she sprayed some hair spray, coughing a little.  
  
The next person to sit down was Portal Girl. Sakura quickly, and expertly took a small section of her hair and braided a thick black ribbon down it. The rest she straightened and arranged some of the little black clips in a small spiral design.  
  
Next to sit down in front of Sakura was Rika. Sakura quickly pulled her hair up into two high pigtails and twisted them around making two small, tight buns. She stuck in some of the dried roses in another spiral design and sprayed more hair spray, causing herself to cough some more.  
  
Sakura turned to the remaining girls and gestured for Natsumi to sit down. She pulled her hair into a long flat braid pining small music notes of various kinda through out it. She took to midnight blue ribbons and two powder blue ribbons and tied them at the base of the braid, using the curling iron to make them come down in ringlets.  
  
Hikaru looked at Ca-chan, "Is it all right if I go next?"  
  
Ca-chan nodded.  
  
Hikaru quickly sat down and Sakura quickly went to work. She pulled half of Hikaru's hair into a ponytail and skillfully twisted it into a seashell shape and took the rest of it and pined it up around the shell shape. The way that they were pinned up allowed them to hang down but not touch Hikaru's shoulders. Sakura curled them into ringlets and tied a single sea- green ribbon into a bow on a bobby pin and pushed the pin up to where it hung at the base of the shell that her hair created. Sakura smiled happily and sprayed a lot of hair spray on making them both cough.  
  
"Last, but definitely not the least, is Ca-chan," Sakura said and turned to face Ca-chan.  
  
Ca scrambled onto the seat and sat down patiently awaiting the final picture. Sakura quickly pulled Ca's hair into a low ponytail and tied the two ribbon around her head and tied them in a bow on the side. She cut the ends making them two different lengths. She pulled the ponytail holder out of Ca's hair and curled her hair into ringlets. She sprayed Ca's hair with hair spray and then turned to see her work on everyone.  
  
"You all look so beautiful!" Sakura cried happily.  
  
Naoko, who was on the other side of the room with Rika to avoid the hairspray, gestured dramatically. "Shall we.............. go?" she asked.   
  
"Yep!" Ca said and Natsumi got up and opened the door.  
  
To be continued... 


	21. The Party, and Who Spiked the Punch?

Naoko led them all out of the room and down the stairs. Everything went silent and one of the other employees reached for the microphone.  
  
"Bishies and Ladies! I welcome you to the Bishie Preserve party Now, to introduce your wonderful team, here is the old frumpled lady!" one of hte employees said.  
  
The woman that Sakura and Naoko had seen on their first trip to the preserve and hadn't seen since walked to the mike. "Hello," she said dully. "We have Sakura, Naoko, Ca, Portal Girl, Mooie, Natsumi, Rika, and Hikaru. Thank you for the applause," she said to the silent hall and put down the microphone.  
  
"Psh! That was lame," Portal Girl said and pulled a pistol out of the bosom of her dress. All of the girls sweatdropped. "LET THE PARTY BEGIN!" she cried and shot off the pistol. There was a cheer and everyone started talking again.  
  
"Wow!" Vash said to them. "You look stunning!"  
  
Naoko beamed. "Thanks!" she said and wandered off, Sakura following her.  
  
"Dahling, you simply must try the punch," Ca said to Vash and led him off, arm entwined with his.  
  
"Is it spiked?" Vash asked hopefully.  
  
Ca froze, then looked up at him and grinned. "Not yet," she said.  
  
"Oh really?" Vash asked as they walked off.  
  
"So! I heard you say you liked violins!" Mooie said to Knives.  
  
"What?" was his reply.  
  
Portal Girl sighed. "if only Joey was here," she said.  
  
"Don't you worry!" Natsumi said. "He is next on the list for captures!" she held up a list that was over 200 sheets thick.  
  
Portal Girl's eyes bugged out. "Those are all bishies?"  
  
"No," Natsumi said. "They are also ideas on how we can further publicize the preserve."  
  
"Natsu-chan," Hikaru said to the project coordinator. "I really don't think we need any more fangirls..."  
  
"That's what they want you to think," Natsumi returned.  
  
Hikaru gasped. "THEY?!" she cried. "Noooo!" she ran off into the crowd.  
  
Rika, Portal Girl, and Natsumi sweatdropped.  
  
"Well, I'm off," Rika said and the other girls scattered.  
  
"Naoko-chan, where are you going?" Sakura asked.  
  
"Over there to Apricots, Riku, and Link," Naoko responded.  
  
"Oh... well.. I'm going to get some food," Sakura said.  
  
"Don't be gone too long. I'm sure Q-Bert is going to ask you to dance," Naoko said and winked.  
  
For once Sakura was glad that it was dark in the gym. Glad it was dark so no one would see her face turn bright pink with a blush. She slowly wandered over to the food tables and grabbed a few Gold Fish crackers. Her eyes skimmed the crowd and saw was just about to go over the crowd once more when a set of blue eyes and a set of green eyes landed on her. As she looked closer, she noticed that it was Sora and Q-Bert, both of them were staring at her. She quickly turned around to face the food table again and slowly inched her way out of hte line of site of the two bishies.  
  
"Come ON!" Sakura heard Ca's voice. "You know you can!"  
  
"But, Sakura would kill me if she found out!" Vash whimpered.  
  
"Sakura wouldn't hurt a fly," Ca returned.  
  
"That's what you think!" Vash exclaimed. "You didn't see her earlier today!"  
  
"Well, just one bottle then! It won't hurt anyone. Just.... loosen things up!"  
  
"One bottle of what to what?" Sakura asked and walked toward them.  
  
"Eh..." Ca replied.  
  
"I've.... got to.... go......" Vash said and the two disappeared from the general area of the punch bowl.  
  
"I'm surprised he isn't guzzling donuts," Sakura said to herself.  
  
"Hello!" Naoko said and walked up to her friend.  
  
"Why aren't you with Link, Riku, or Apricots?" Sakura asked.  
  
"I'm thirsty," Naoko replied.  
  
"I wouldn't drink the punch if I were you. It might be spiked." Sakura said.  
  
"I wasn't going to have it anyways. I was going to have water. I'm watching my weight," she added, as she grabbed three bowls of ice cream.  
  
"I hope that all isn't for you," Sakura said.  
  
Naoko beamed at her friend and took a bite out of one of the bowls.  
  
Sakura sighed and shook her head and Naoko headed off back towards Apricots, Link, and Riku. Sakura decided to search out Rika and started weaving in and out of the people on the dance floor, trying her best to avoid Sora and Q-Bert.  
  
"Sakura-onee-chan!" a voice called out.  
  
Sakura whipped around to find Cael trailing behind her. Sakura smiled and bent down to his level.  
  
"Sakura-onee-chan, everyone here is a lot bigger than I am," Cael said quietly while staring at his feet.  
  
"Aww. It's ok Cael. Do you want to hang out with me?" Sakura offered.  
  
Cael's face lit up as he looked at her and nodded.  
  
"Ok, I was just going to go find Rika. I heard somewhere that she had a really big surprise for everyone," Sakura said and looked around for the said cook.  
  
Cael slid his hand into Sakura's and the two went off to continue the search for the MIA Rika who had disappeared earlier in the party. As the wandered around the came upon an interesting scene. A bishie was asking another bishie if he should maybe as one of the fan girls to dance. That's when Sakura noticed the room. Separated on either side of the room, almost by an invisible wall, were the fan girls on the left, and the bishies on the right. She sweatdropped and walked over to one of the bishies. She took him by the hand and dragged him over to some random fan girl and put his hand in hers. She whacked them both on the back and pushed them together. Another song started and the two started dancing, that's when all of the other bishies walked over to the fan girls and started dancing with them.  
  
"Man.... You'd think they were in middle school," Sakura said a bit miffed.  
  
"Some of us are in middle school," a random fangirl said as she walked by.  
  
Sakura sweatdropped. "So they are..."  
  
"And, like," Naoko stuffed a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth. "I was all, 'WERE GONNA CATCH YOU DAMNIT!' to the bishie and he looked at me, a bit scared, and then he started to run...."  
  
"I think she's just plain out of it," Apricots whispered to Q-Bert. The two were listening to Naoko babble about how she and Sakura first met, which turned into the usuall colors of chocobos, and then meandered over to the cellular structure of mushrooms, and then ended up to the story of a random bishie capture, which probably never happened, but, when Naoko rambles, it doesn't matter.  
  
"Erm," Q-Bert said to Naoko. "You probably shouldn't eat too much ice cream. You might overdose..."  
  
Naoko paused in her eating and stared at him. "Overdose....? on ice cream?" She goggled at them. "That's impossible. Speaking of impossible, did you know that chicken legs are eaten in China?"  
  
"We need to take drastic action..." Apricots said. Q-Bert nodded.  
  
"Hey!" Apricots said. "look over there!" he pointed off into a random corner. A horrible cliché, but, of course, Naoko fell for it and looked in the other direction. Q-Bert snatched her ice cream and ran in the opposite direction. As soon as Naoko sensed that her ice cream had disappeared, she started to growl, and to the closest people, almost foamed at the mouth.  
  
"Who DARES to take my ice cream?!" she cried as she started to chase after Q-Bert.  
  
Apricots ran up to her and picked her up and slung her over his shoulder. She started to kick and scream and beat at his back wildly as he walked over to Sakura for a calm conversation on the state of the preserve.  
  
Sakura stared in awe at Naoko who was still kicking wildly.  
  
"Uh... Naoko-chan.... are you ok?" Sakura asked slowly.  
  
Naoko turned to look at Sakura, she had a wild look in her eyes.  
  
"I'll be right back," Sakura said and ran off.  
  
Minutes later she came back with a white jacket in her hands.  
  
"Where did you get that?" Apricots asked.  
  
"Oh... my brother gave it to me as a present for Christmas once..." Sakura said and slipped Naoko into it.  
  
She pulled on the straps and zipped it up the back. Naoko only stared at Sakura as she did this.  
  
"Now she won't be able to hit you anymore," Sakura said as a small sweatdrop rolled down the back of her head as Naoko started to chew at the arms.  
  
Apricots looked startled. "eh... do you think we should knock her out?"  
  
"That might work," Q-Bert said, who had walked up.  
  
"ICE CREAM THEIF!" Naoko yelled in between her knawing.  
  
"Sorry Naoko-chan," Sakura said and grabbed a plate from the table. "I hope this doesn't hurt too much..."  
  
Naoko had enough time to look up before Sakura whacked her on the head with a plate. Naoko fell unconscious.  
  
The three stared at her for a bit, then looked up at each other and gave a nervous laugh.  
  
"Maybe we should dump her on Link," Apricots suggested.  
  
"You're so mean," Sakura said. "I'll go get him."  
  
"WHAT HAPPENED HERE?!" Link demanded when he joined Apricots and Q-Bert.  
  
"Um... a.... giant.... koala came and hit her really hard!" Q-Bert said quickly.  
  
"A... koala? What's that?" Link asked.  
  
"Its a ... giant.... bear..." Apricots said.  
  
"NO! A giant bear came through here?" Link asked. "Tell me where it is! I need to destroy it!"  
  
"No, you should stay here with Naoko," Sakura said. "To keep her safe."  
  
Link formed an O with his mouth and sat down beside the unconscious captor. "Never fear! You three go and have fun, but keep a lookout!"  
  
Sakura, Q-Bert, and Apricots walked away, trying to contain their laughter.  
  
When they got to the other side of the gym, they couldn't hold their laughter in any longer.  
  
"Did you, did you see the look on her face when she saw the plate coming down?" Sakura asked through gasps.  
  
"Yeah, here eyes got all big and round like this," Apricots replied, making his eyes widen.  
  
The three laughed harder and harder until they had tears falling down their faces. There was a scream from the other side of the gym and the three suddenly stopped laughing and had very serious expressions on their faces.  
  
"Naoko..." the all said simultaneously.  
  
They took off running back towards Naoko only to find that it was a fan girl that had screamed. On of the bishies was starting to act strangely. It looked almost as if he was having spasms but laughing at the same time.  
  
"What's going on here?" Sakura asked as she stood next to the fan girl.  
  
"I'm not sure. He just started acting strangely," the girl replied.  
  
"Did he happen to have any punch?" Sakura asked, suddenly appearing dressed in a cop uniform.  
  
"Why, yes, I do believe he did," the girl replied again.  
  
"Ok. I need all the information that you can tell me," Sakura said and started writing in a little notepad she pulled out of her pocket. "Like, starting with your name."  
  
"My name is Lizzee1," the girl replied.  
  
"Ahh... ok, Lizzee1," Sakura repeated as she scribbled the name down. "Now, when exactly did this bishie start acting like this?"  
  
"Bob says about 2 minutes ago... he also says you knew that already," Lizzee1 replied.  
  
"Bob?" Sakura asked staring at the girl.  
  
"Yes! Bob!" Lizzee1 replied again holding up a very pointy carrot.  
  
"Bob...." Sakura said.  
  
"Yes, Bob!" Lizzee replied indignantly. "Do you dislike carrots?"  
  
"Um...." Sakura said, lost.  
  
"Carrots have orange!" The bishie who had had the punch informed them, and burst out into laugher.  
  
"I think that the punch is spiked," Lizzee1 said.  
  
"May I quote you on that, Lizzee1?" Sakura asked.  
  
"Lizzee1? I am Rachel!" The So-called Lizzee1 said.  
  
"Huh? I'm lost!"  
  
"SHUT UP, RACHEL!" The girl cried and slapped herself. "Sorry," she said to the shocked Sakura. "She sometimes gets out."  
  
"Gets out," Sakura said faintly.  
  
"I think she's had punch, too," Q-Bert said  
  
"I have not!" Lizzee1 said indignantly. "Casey wouldn't allow it!"  
  
"Oh, and is Casey... another friend?" Sakura asked.  
  
"Yep!" Lizzee1 said. "And, she wants a job at the preserve!"  
  
"oh.... well...."  
  
"There is a doctor job open!" Mooie said, popping up behind Sakura.  
  
"Doctor?!" Sakura hissed  
  
"We'll take it!" Lizzee1 said. "Won't we, Bob?"  
  
"Heh..."  
  
"Muffin is a funny word!" Mooie said and started to laugh as she walked away.  
  
Sakura looked around the room and saw many bishies and fangirls either laughing, crying, or just standing, staring at the wall and pointing out a particularly colorful spot.  
  
Suddenly she was back in her emerald dress and walked over to Vash, whom she had just spotted hiding in a corner with Ca-chan.  
  
"You didn't, did you?" Sakura asked.  
  
"Depending on what you're asking us if we did or didn't do something, I wouldn't know if I did of didn't do something given that fact that I don't know what you are talking about," Ca-chan responded.  
  
Sakura cocked an eyebrow at her. She wasn't getting any real, constructive answer from Ca so she turned to Vash who had a sheepish grin on his face.  
  
"Vash.... what did you to do?" Sakura asked warningly.  
  
Ca gave him a 'tell and you die look' that Sakura caught.  
  
"Never mind, I already know," Sakura said and walked away.  
  
She headed up to the microphone and tapped on it.  
  
"Hello bishies and fan girls. I have some, possibly bad news for you..." Sakura said.  
  
All of the people in the gym stopped moving and the music stopped.  
  
"Well... you see, the punch has been spiked," Sakura announced.  
  
The crowd cheered.  
  
"Um... That's a bad thing!" Sakura said. "it means you are all drunk, or tipsy!"  
  
The crowd cheered again.  
  
"Eh.... I guess I'll get down again." Sakura said as the crowd cheered, once again.  
  
Sakura walked up to Vash. "Well, it looks like you made the party a whole lot more fun..." she said.  
  
Vash beamed at her. "Wanna have a drink?" he hiccoughed at her.  
  
Lizzee1 walked up to them. "You shouldn't drink!" she clucked that them. "It is bad!"  
  
"Who made you a doctor?!" Vash demanded.  
  
Sakura whispered in his ear.  
  
"Oh..." Vash said.  
  
Naoko joined them. "WHO WANTS TO SING A SONG?!" she demanded.  
  
"Not you too, Naoko-chan," Sakura said.  
  
"Of course not! I'm watching my figure!"  
  
"How did you get out?" Vash asked her.  
  
"Link set me free after I told him I needed to go to the bathroom," Naoko said.  
  
"So, anyways," Naoko said to Sakura. "I'm on the "ice cream" diet. You only eat ice cream."  
  
"Oh, really?" Sakura said.  
  
"How about we sing 'A Pirate's Life For Me'?" Naoko asked.  
  
"I don't know it," Vash said.  
  
"You will then," Naoko said and started bellowing at the top of her lungs.  
  
Sakura shook her head. "I knew she was on overdose."  
  
She walked to the punch bowl. "Might as well!" she said and grabbed a cup.  
  
One cup later...  
  
"YO HO YO HO A PIRATES LIFE FOR ME!!" Sakura yelled, hanging onto Naoko's shoulder.  
  
Vash giggled. "You can't hold your alcohol, can you?"  
  
"hey!" Sakura slurred. "You can't either you Stupid, fat, ugly, really tall....." Sakura broke off.  
  
Naoko laughed. "Can't even get a sentence straight!" she cried.  
  
"Well, miss-im-on-the-icecream-diet," Sakura said. "Why don't YOU have a drink?"  
  
"It's.... against my religion!" she said.  
  
"Sure!" Sakura said and took another swig.  
  
~Several Hours later~  
  
"Oy..." Naoko said, looking at the party-hall. "Everyone is asleep..." True to her statement, everyone in the room, except a few people who did not drink the punch, was asleep.  
  
"Hi!" Lizzee said to her. "I see you aren't asleep!"  
  
"No, although I'm exhausted..." Naoko replied.  
  
"I'm not.." Lizzee said. "I had to much sugar!"  
  
"I did too, except I'm about to have a crash." Naoko said and yawned.  
  
"Well, can anyone play video games around here?" Lizzee asked. "Bob is bored."  
  
"Uh...." Naoko said. "Sure! Just... follow me," she said. She left the room and led the new bishie doctor to her private room. "Pick any game you want, because we have it.  
  
Lizzee squealed. "How about this, Bob?" she picked up a PS2. "What do you say we play Final Fantasy?"  
  
Later, Naoko hoped that she had just been hallucinating with the tiredness, but she could have sworn that she heard the carrot answer.  
  
Lizzee turned on the game platform. "HAHAHAHA!! TIME TO KILL!" she bellowed and started pushing random buttons.  
  
"I guess I'll watch," Naoko said and sat down on the floor next to Lizzee, watching the carrot suspiciously.  
  
~*~ Back in the gym  
  
Sakura sat up rubbing her head. "Oy.... such a bad headache," she moaned.  
  
She looked around, everyone else was still sleeping. She found herself sitting on the cold gym floor and not two feet away lay Q-Bert, Sora, Riku, and Vash. Mooie, who was practically lying on top of Knives rolled over and snorted loudly. Sakura giggled a little. Ca-chan was sprawled out on the floor mumbling about a formula on how to make won tons taste like ice cream. Sakura stood up and wobbled back and forth a little.  
  
"I probably shouldn't wake anyone up..." she said softly.  
  
She left the room and found the vast supply of blankets in the storage room and proceeded to cover everyone up with one. She lingered as she covered Q- Bert and Sora up. "Sleep well tonight, all of you," she said as she exited the room and turned the light out.  
  
As she walked down the hall she noticed a light coming from one of the rooms. She opened the door and found Lizzee1 and Naoko screaming at the characters on the screen.  
  
"Hey, could you keep it down? Everyone's sleeping," Sakura said and closed the door behind her.  
  
"Hey! You're awake!" Naoko cried cheerfully. She was apparently over her sugar crash.  
  
"Oh! So you've recovered?" Sakura asked.  
  
"Recovered from what?" Naoko asked. "Donut?" she offered the pastry to her friend.  
  
Sakura sweatdropped. "No thanks. I feel like dying."  
  
"Ahh.. hangover," Lizzee1 said. "It will help if you drink water."  
  
"Okay," Sakura said. She left the room and came back with a gallon of water. "Here goes!" she said and started to chug.  
  
Naoko sighed as she watched Lizzee try to beat the heartless. "You're not doing to well," she told the doctor.  
  
"Well, it's kinda hard if the main character isn't there!" Lizzee retorted. "I had to let Bob take care of the bosses...."  
  
Sakura choked. "Sora isn't in the game anymore?"  
  
"Nah..." Naoko said. "Just some shadow."  
  
"Um..." Sakura said. "That's not good!"  
  
Sakura and Naoko looked at each other. Naoko's eyes lit up as Sakura's face went pale.  
  
"WE HAVE A NEW JOB!!!" Naoko exclaimed.  
  
"Y-yeah..." Sakura replied. "What have I gotten myself into!?" she thought.  
  
Naoko began to dance around the room happily.  
  
"I thought you weren't feeling well..." Lizzee1 said.  
  
Naoko stopped running for a moment to look at Lizzee1.  
  
"Are you nuts?! I always feel good!" Naoko exclaimed then started to swing Sakura around in circles.  
  
"But, we still don't know what to do!" Sakura said.  
  
Naoko stopped twirling Sakura. "That's right," she said. "We don't."  
  
The two stared at the ground in minor disappointment.  
  
"AHHHHH!!" Lizzee1 screamed.  
  
"What?" Sakura asked as Naoko jumped.  
  
"Nothing," Lizzee1 said.  
  
"She has been screaming randomly all night..." Naoko muttered.  
  
Sakura sweatdropped. "So she is...."  
  
"HEY!" Naoko said brightly. "Ca-chan is a genius! Why don't we ask her to write an equation?"  
  
"But, that's only for food!" Sakura said as Naoko grabbed her hand and whisked her out of the room.  
  
"CA-CHAN!!!" Naoko bellowed through the halls of the preserve.  
  
Ca's head popped out of a door on their immediate right and scared the living daylights out of Sakura, who just happened to be walking on the right side of Naoko.  
  
"Yesh?" Ca asked.  
  
"I have a business proposition for you," Naoko replied.  
  
"Very well then, enter my office," Ca said and opened the door wide enough for the two girls to enter.  
  
It was a very small room and the walls were plastered with images of the decease bishie, Nick Wolfwood. There was also a relatively large pile of coats on the floor in the right corner.  
  
"Ne, Ca-chan, wasn't this a closet?" Sakura asked as she eyed the coats.  
  
"Indeed it was, but is no longer," Ca replied making her way to a small desk in the left corner and organized a pile of papers.  
  
Sakura and Naoko sat down on the ground and waited for Ca to say something.  
  
"Weren't you two here to give me a proposition?" she asked as she grabbed a piece of lined paper and a pencil.  
  
"Oh yeah!" Naoko exclaimed as she remembered her purpose for coming to see Ca. "We would like you to write an equation that will assist us in saving the video games that we have taken bishies from."  
  
Ca-chan turned and stared at her darkly. "My equations are for food, and food only."  
  
Naoko paled at the stare and turned to Sakura. "Why didn't you tell me they were only for food?!?" she asked in a harsh whisper.  
  
"I did!" Sakura protested.  
  
There came a knock on the door behind them and Ca got up to answer it. A pile of pictures came crashing down on Naoko and Sakura's heads.  
  
"What the...?" Sakura mumbled as she picked up one of the images.  
  
It was yet another image of Nick Wolfwood. She sighed.  
  
"Well, you seem to be a bit busy. We will leave you to your work and try to figure this out on our own. Thank you for your time Ca-chan," Sakura said and dragged a protesting Naoko out of the room, for she had found an image with, what she thought, Legato on it. Sakura only thought it was a speck of dust and threw the image back into the pile of other images.  
  
Once Naoko had regained her footing she grabbed Sakura's shoulder and whipped her around so she could see Sakura's face.  
  
"You'll have to pay for that," Naoko said shortly.  
  
"And how am I going to do that?" Sakura asked rolling her eyes slightly.  
  
"You'll have to buy me ice cream," Naoko replied.  
  
Sakura gave Naoko a mock horrified look that sent Naoko on a rage. Sakura high-tailed it down the hallway and back into the gym where the rest of the guests still slept. She hid under one of the tables just as Naoko entered the gym in search of her.  
  
Naoko roared and marched about the room, only to step on a sleeping Knives.  
  
"GAH! sorry!" she said as Knives rolled over and glared daggers at her.  
  
"You should do more than that, spider." Knives growled at her.  
  
"Like.........?"  
  
"Die." Knives sat up and rubbed his head. "Good God... trust humans to make me drunk..."  
  
Naoko tiptoed away from Knives and continued her search for Sakura. "Sakura?" she whispered. "You can come out now! I forgive you!"  
  
Sakura stayed put.  
  
After searching for a few more minutes, Naoko got tired and left the room in search of some coffee. "I need something to wake me up," she said. She walked into the kitchen and rifled thorough all the cupboards, but to no avail. There was not a affianced beverage to be seen. Naoko couldn't even find any chocolate. Cursing her fate, she decided to go to her room and sleep. "Leave it to someone who flies about in a rowboat to be stingy on caffeine..." she said as she opened door and flopped down on the bed.  
  
~-~  
  
Sakura crawled out from under the table as soon as Naoko left and observed the unconscious people around her. No one was awake yet, and Sakura was sure that it had to be at least 10:00. "We have bishies to catch!" she said indignantly. she then paled. 'What if some fangirls come in while the bishies are still unconscious?' she grimaced at the thought to bishies waking up to screaming girls climbing all over them, cutting off locks of hair, and removing articles of clothing for souvenirs. 'Then again, that might not be so bad,' she thought and imagined some particularly buff bishies shirtless. She then shook her head. 'Better not let it happen.' She walked around, wondering what she should do to wake them up. 'Naoko would know what to do...' she thought. She then imagined Naoko with water balloons, throwing them at the comatose sleepers and running away, laughing hysterically at their confusion. She shook her head. 'We're starting to think alike!' she thought, then grinned. She headed off to a nearby bathroom that just so happened to be stocked up with extra balloons from the decorations. Apparently they had been forgotten about in the decorations, for the bag hadn't even been opened. Sakura laughed evilly to herself as she ripped the bag open and took out one of the balloons. She began stretching the opening of the bag because once, when she was a little girl of the age 10, her brother was showing her how to fill balloons with water and she made the mistake of not stretching the opening and filling. Needless to say, it exploded in her hands and rather than get her brother soaking wet, she ended up as the one completely wet. After filling one balloon she paused and looked at herself in the mirror, she frowned. What kind of friend would she be if she didn't wake her best friend and have her join in the festivities of scaring bishies, and fangirls, senseless? Sakura set the balloon down in a small padded basket and removed her shoes. She could let no one hear her as she ran out of the bathroom and up to her room, where she suspected Naoko would be after her futile search for coffee, or any caffinated beverage for that matter. Sakura knew that Naoko was trying to get herself addicted to coffee and, as a joke, removed all of the coffee and caffinated soda from the preserve.  
  
Upon entering the room where she and Naoko resided, she found a snoring Naoko half on her bed and half not. Her right arm and leg were hanging off the bed and her head teetered back and forth next to the nightstand that held her lamp and glasses. Sakura chocked back her laughter as Naoko scratched her head and mumbled something along the lines of "Mommy... more ice cream, my tummy says that I need more ice cream..." She walked over to Naoko's bed and stared at her face with her head cocked to the right. A slight smirk spread across her face as she bent down so she was level with Naoko's ear.  
  
"NAOKO!" she screamed.  
  
Naoko awoke with a start and fumbled for her glasses that where on the night stand.  
  
"Wha? Where's the fire?" Naoko sputtered as she put her glasses on.  
  
Sakura could hold it in any longer. She grasped her sides and she slid to the floor laughing hysterically with tears following down her cheeks. Naoko's eye twitched as she looked at Sakura.  
  
"What do you want?" Naoko asked groggily.  
  
"Well," Sakura said between gasps of air. "I was going to wake all the bishies and fangirls up by dropping water balloons on them and I thought maybe you'd like to join me."  
  
Naoko's eyes lit up as she hopped over to Sakura.  
  
"That'd be great!"  
  
"First, we need some ultra-cool ninja gear," Sakura said, leaving her laughing fit behind, and had a gleam of mischief in her eyes.  
  
Naoko ran over to their closet and brought out a pair of black cotton sweatpants and a sweatshirt. On the back, in satin letters, were the initials "B.C." They stood for Bishie Captor of course, but that wasn't the point. Sakura ran to her closet and grabbed the same outfit. Next Sakura pulled out a black beanie and a satin bandana. Naoko winked as she pulled out the same thing.  
  
The two quickly dressed and Sakura helped tie the bandana around Naoko's nose and mouth. In truth, the two looked more like thieves than ninjas, but that didn't matter to them. Their gaze shifted down to their bare feet. They had completely forgotten about shoes. Did they even have shoes that didn't make noise on the ground?  
  
Sakura turned to Naoko and raised her eyebrows in a question. Naoko shrugged. There was a muffled scuffling coming from one of the other closets in the room and Sakura and Naoko stalked over to the door. They opened the door cautiously and two pairs of black moccasins fell out. Naoko and Sakura exchanged frightened looks but took the moccasins nonetheless. They slipped them on and made their way back to the bathroom where Sakura had left the balloons.  
  
About 15 minutes later, the balloons were filled and the girls were ready to wreck havoc. Naoko was dancing around erratically in glee.  
  
"What happened to you being tired?" Sakura whispered.  
  
Naoko paused, then stopped immediately. "I forgot about it..." she said.  
  
Sakura sweatdropped as the two arrived at the door to the gym. "Ready?" she whispered.  
  
As an answer, Naoko grabbed a particularly large balloon and tossed it into the air with a loud whoop and rushed in. Sakura gave a war cry in response and ran in after.  
  
Most bishes and fangirls woke in surprise and wondered what was happening, while others tried to steal water balloons from Sakura or Naoko, but they received a balloon in the face as a response. "WAKIE WAKIE!" Naoko cried while Sakura danced around singing wakeup calls. After the balloon supply was exhausted, Sakura and Naoko abruptly disappeared under the table to fortify themselves against the outraged bishies.  
  
"Do you think we'll be safe under here?" Sakura asked Naoko in a barely audible whisper.  
  
Naoko shrugged. "No on saw us duck under here... did they?"  
  
"I don't know..."  
  
"Where do you think they went?" a voice called out.  
  
Two sets of shoes appeared under the edge of the table cloth, both untied. Sakura pointed them out to Naoko and made a hand signal to her. Naoko nodded enthusiastically.  
  
Sakura tied one pair of shoe laces together as Naoko did the other set.  
  
"Be prepared to run out of here though," Naoko commented. "When they fall they'll be able to see under the table."  
  
Sakura nodded her head briefly as she got prepared to run for the door on the other side of the gym.  
  
"You think we'll make it?" Sakura asked.  
  
"It's worth a try."  
  
The two bishies took one step and fell flat on their faces. They blinked in confusion as they saw Sakura and Naoko's faces under the table.  
  
"RUN!" Naoko shouted.  
  
Sakura and Naoko broke out in a flat sprint for the door but unfortunately were caught by Q-Bert and Apricots 10 feet from the door.  
  
Sakura and Naoko exchanged looks. Both bishies were completely drenched and their hair was hanging down in their eyes, giving them a some-what evil look.  
  
"Well boys, what should we do with them?" Apricots asked.  
  
Snickers were heard from the crowd of soaking wet bishies.  
  
"You wouldn't tie us to a pole in the middle of the room and eat all the ice cream, would you?" Naoko asked.  
  
Sakura kicked Naoko's shin and gave her a glare. Apricots' eyes glistened.  
  
"That brilliant!" One of the other bishies yelled.  
  
Minutes later, both girls were tied to a pole in the middle of the room while the bishies sat around with tubs of ice cream. Sakura rolled her eyes as Naoko sobbed loudly and muttering something about "the injustice."  
  
After the bishies were full and Naoko had muttered all the insults and threats she could think of, Sakura decided it was time to speak. "Um.... Do you think that you can untie us yet?"  
  
"I don't know..." Q-Bert said pensively.  
  
"Yes. We might get paint ball balloons." Vash said. "Then again, if you were wearing white shirts..."  
  
"I would watch your back as soon as I'm let go, Vash," Naoko said airily. "I might just accidentally fall on you with a knife."  
  
Vash smiled toothily and backed away. "Nice bishie captor," he said.  
  
"What about me?" Sakura asked. "I wouldn't do anything!"  
  
"In your knowledge," Naoko muttered.  
  
"Oh, alright," Sora said. "You're right. You aren't evil." He walked up and untied Sakura.  
  
Naoko watched the proceeding with big eyes. "But!"  
  
Sakura grinned. "You see! This is what happens when you try to cook bishies!"  
  
Riku glared at Naoko.  
  
"Heh..." Naoko said and sweatdropped.  
  
"But, since you are my best friend," Sakura said, "I'll let you go."  
  
"YAY!" Naoko cried and tried to jump for joy.  
  
Sakura untied her friend.  
  
"THIS MEANS WAR!" Naoko bellowed to the bishies as Sakura led her out of the room. 


	22. Portal Girl and her Bazooka of DOOM!

"HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" Naoko's voice exploded through the preserve.  
  
She was running down the hallway with a set of paint brushes in her hands, closely followed by Sakura who was holding the paint. Not very far behind them were about six bishes who had spirals and stars and hearts and moons painted all over their faces and any other bare section of skin. The ducked behind a desk and the six bishes ran by without noticing.  
  
"Whew... I think we lost them," Sakura sighed.  
  
"Yeah," Naoko replied and breathed heavily.  
  
Both girls were completely exhausted; they had been running from those bishies for close to two hours now.  
  
"Not quite girls," a voice behind them said.  
  
Sakura and Naoko slowly turned their heads, scared that they had in fact been captured once again. As they thought, the six bishies were standing behind them, looking completely frightening with their painted faces so close and so angry looking. Sakura sweatdropped. The first time they were caught, she had been able to get off, but this time, she wasn't so sure she could talk Sora or Q-Bert into letting her go.  
  
"Heh... well you see..." Naoko started.  
  
Sakura grabbed her arm and started running as fast as she could, dragging Naoko behind her.  
  
"We're not getting caught this time!" she screamed as Naoko attempted to regain her footing.  
  
They continued running until both girls collapsed on the ground from exhaustion.  
  
"Can't.... run..." Naoko said between gasped for air.  
  
Sakura gasped for air as well. Behind them, three of the six bishies rounded the corner and saw them lying there.  
  
"This is going to be easier than we thought," one whispered to another.  
  
The other two just laughed quietly and walked up to the girls bodies on the ground.  
  
"Are you done running yet?" another bishie asked.  
  
Sakura rolled to her side to look at the bishies. Her eyes were glazed with exhaustion and all she could do was grunt. The three bishies squatted down and tied Sakura and Naoko's hands and feet together and hefted them over their shoulders and headed back to the gym where the rest of the bishies were waiting.  
  
*~*  
  
"Welcome!" Portal Girl said and shot off her grenade launcher. Three young women screamed and ran past her into the preserve, followed by the sound of Portal Girl's cackling.  
  
Portal Girl reloaded her launcher. "I sure wish Joey was here to share the fun with me," she sighed. She looked around at the walls, wistfully, ignoring a group of pre-teen girls tiptoeing past her. "I KNOW!" Portal Girl yelled and jumped up, frightening the girls. They ran into the preserve with a shriek. "I shall ask our Bishie Captors!" she marched into the preserve, with her grenade launcher.  
  
*~*  
  
"Nobody knows the troubles I've seen," Naoko was singing dismally.  
  
"Nobody knows my sorrows," Sakura returned.  
  
"SHUT UP!" Riku yelled. "Can't you sing something else?"  
  
"IT'S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL!" Naoko bellowed while Sakrua started to sing random anime songs.  
  
Portal Girl opened the door. "Have you seen Sakura or Naoko?" she asked Link, who was standing guard. Link pointed to the madrigals, who were horribly off key.  
  
Portal Girl sweatdropped. "Well, I need them. Now." she said.  
  
"Sorry," Sora said, walking up to Link. "They're busy," he said as Naoko started to shriek for help at the top of her lungs.  
  
Portal Girl hefted her grenade launcher. "No, you don't understand," she said.  
  
Sora and Link backed off.  
  
"Oh, look!" Sakura said.  
  
Naoko stopped screaming. "It's a bird!"  
  
"No, it's a plane!"  
  
"ITS STUUUUUUUUUUPOR PORTAL-GIRL!" they yelled.  
  
Portal Girl sweatdropped again. "I need your help." she said.  
  
"Are you running out of grenades? because Mooie could prolly help you out with that better than we could," Naoko said.  
  
Sakura did her best to kick Naoko. "Quiet, you! she is going to save us!"  
  
"HELP! SHE IS TRYING TO RAVAGE ME!" Naoko wailed.  
  
"You wish," Sakura said.  
  
"I like it when you talk dirty like that," Naoko said and raised her eyebrows at Sakura.  
  
The two burst out laughing. Portal Girl sweatdropped. "C'mon! Before they send reinforcements!" she said and untied the two. Naoko and Sakura followed her, supporting each other and crying with laughter. Portal Girl led them into the kitchen, where Rika had set up the stove as to be some sort of a flame thrower.  
  
"Wow!" Naoko said and made Rika explain while Portal Girl briefed Sakura.  
  
"But, another bishie means another one added to their army!" Sakura said.  
  
"We're smarter than them," Portal Girl said. "We don't need to worry. Especially if we have Joey."  
  
Sakura looked wearily at Portal Girl and finally gave in.  
  
"Ok, fine. We'll go catch Joey for you," she said.  
  
Portal Girl started dancing around crazily whooping with joy because she was finally getting the bishie she wanted.  
  
Sakura got up and dragged Naoko away from the explanation from Rika.  
  
"You can continue this later. Naoko we have a bishie to catch," Sakura said and headed up the stairs to their room.  
  
Once inside the two girls sat on their beds.  
  
"What's our plan to catch Joey. His friends are not going to let us just take him. We may have to fight, or, we may have to catch him while he's sleeping. If we do that latter we can use this," Sakura said pulling out a small pouch of powder, "it will keep him asleep until we get back here."  
  
Naoko stared at her friend in awe. "Where did you get that?!"  
  
Sakura shrugged, "I made it."  
  
"Ok, so we have a plan. What are we going to wear?" Naoko asked.  
  
*~*  
  
"Now that they are gone and out of the way," Portal Girl said, "I think it's time that we held a meeting."  
  
Rika nodded. "I'll hold the fort for you," she said. "You collect everyone else."  
  
Portal Girl nodded and hefted her grenade launcher. "Can do!" she said and left the room. She walked out of the kitchen and walked along the hallway, watching for some of the employees or for dangerous bishies.  
  
She didn't have very far to travel before she met Ca-chan.  
  
"Erm, Ca?" Portal Girl asked as the said Fan girl Control worker muttered to herself and scribbled complicated equations on the wall. "Its time for a company meeting."  
  
"Just a minute," Ca-chan said. "I think i have it."  
  
"Have what?" Portal Girl asked.  
  
"An equation that shrinks the bishies enough so that they fit into a jar.  
  
Portal Girl grinned. "Good work my friend." she said. "I'll go on."  
  
She turned into the gym, which was where Hikaru and Natsumi would most likley be. The two were the only females that had not officially entered the war, therefore they could give supplies and spy on the bishies for the warring employees.  
  
True to her suspicions, Hikaru and Natsumi were drilling Cael on how to fight.  
  
"Now, you hold the sword like this," Hikaru was demonstrating while Natsumi was observing. "and swing like this."  
  
Cael followed her instructions and swung the sword, almost hitting Portal Girl.  
  
"Careful, little enemy," Portal Girl warned. "That is a direct violation of the peace in the gym," she said.  
  
Cael sweatdropped.  
  
Portal Girl saluted the two girls. "Rika, leader-in-command, formally requests you to join the cause," she said.  
  
Hikaru looked to Natsumi and then back to Portal Girl.  
  
"We will join you for the meeting, but we haven't decided if we're going to join in the war yet," Hikaru explained.  
  
"Alright, come with me," Portal girl said.  
  
The three walked out of the gym leaving Cael all alone with the sword looking very confused.  
  
"OHO DO HO HO HO HO!!" Portal Girl announced as Hikaru and Natsumi were escorted into the kitchen area. "I have returned!"  
  
"Excellent!" Rika said. She put down her spatula, from which she was flipping donuts, no doubt filled with sleep-inducing-jelly. "Is everyone here?" she looked around the room. Every female in the preserve except Ca- chan was there, put, as Portal Girl assured her, she would arrive soon.  
  
"What's the point of this meeting?" Mooie asked. She was a bit crossed at the fact she had been torn away from petting a cow.  
  
"I think it is time that we infiltrated the enemy base," Portal Girl said and smacked her fist onto her palm. "It's time we take out their heart."  
  
"You mean we are going to kill them?" Lizzee1 demanded.  
  
Portal Girl sweatdropped. "No, just.. capture their ringleader."  
  
"Who is that?" Natsumi asked.  
  
"Who else?" Portal Girl asked. "But-  
  
~*~  
  
"We have to get them somehow," Apricots said.  
  
"But how?" Cael asked. "They have that oven!"  
  
"There is a way," Q-Bert said.  
  
"Yes sir?" Syaoran asked him.  
  
Q-Bert proceeds in tell the group around of his menacing plan and small smile spread across all of the bishies faces.  
  
~*~  
  
"Q-Bert?!?" Hikaru exclaimed.  
  
"Yes," Rika replied. "We have to catch Q-Bert, and quickly, before they form a plan to get us first."  
  
~*~  
  
"Cael." Q-Bert called.  
  
"Yes sir?" Cael replied.  
  
"I need you to spy on them. They don't expect you be against them. Can you do this for me?" Q-Bert asked.  
  
"Yes, yes I can," Cael nodded.  
  
"Great," Q-Bert said rubbing his hands together.  
  
"Now, all we need to do is to set up some ice cream...." Apricots relished.  
  
"Uhm... Didn't you hear?" Q-Bert asked. "Naoko and Sakura went out to try to catch another bishie."  
  
"Curses!" Apricots said. "This ruins the whole plan!"  
  
"My plan?" Q-Bert asked.  
  
"That wasn't part of the plan," Syaoran reminded Apricots.  
  
~Back with the girls...~  
  
"AHAHAHA!" Rika said and fired the stove again.  
  
" ^^;; Rika-chan! You will waste the gas!" Natsumi said.  
  
"I WANNA TRY!!" Hikaru cried.  
  
"QUIET!" Portal Girl roared and shot off her bazooka. "We need to develop a plan."  
  
"Bob has one," Lizzee1 said.  
  
"-_-;;; We can't hear the carrot, doctor," Portal Girl reminded the new intern.  
  
"But, I can! And I shall TELL YOU ALL!!" Lizzee1 said.  
  
Everyone else glanced at each other, a tad embarrassed. However, any plan was better than no plan, in most cases. So, they huddled around in a circle and listened to Lizzee1 relate Bob's plan.  
  
~*~  
  
"Ok, Cael! It's going to be alright!" Link encouraged the young bishie.  
  
"But, what if they hurt me??" Cael wailed.  
  
"You're much to young for them to try to hurt you." Link responded. "It will be ok!"  
  
Vash jumped down from the ceiling. He had his red coat and orange sunglasses on. "Everything clear," he said and sneaked off stealthily.  
  
Link sweatdropped. "I think that's because anyone can see you a mile away wearing what you are."  
  
Vash peered over his sunglasses at the Hero of Time. "And what would you do?"  
  
Link grinned. "Use my AWESOME NINJA SKILLS!" He said.  
  
Cael and Vash stared at him.  
  
Link was suddenly wearing a black outfit and a mask. He jumped onto the ceiling and started to crawl towards the area of the kitchen, which was just down the hall. Suddenly, the three bishies heard a shriek and a large amount of fire burst out from the doorway of the kitchen and Link was knocked to the ground.  
  
"Some awesome ninja," Vash said.  
  
Cael stared at Link's body on the ground in horror.  
  
~*~  
  
"AHHAHAHA!!!!" Lizzee1 roared with laughter.  
  
"That was great! One toasted bishie down!" Portal Girl exclaimed.  
  
Rika grinned with pride as she saw that her fire launcher did indeed work very well.  
  
Hikaru and Natsumi were standing in the back of the kitchen whispering back and forth.  
  
"I think we should join them in their fight," Natsumi said.  
  
Hikaru nodded quickly. "Let's tell them."  
  
The two walked over to Rika.  
  
"Leader-in-command! We wish to join amongst your forces in this war against the bishies. Will you accept our pledge?" they both said in unison.  
  
Rika beamed at them. "Of course I accept your pledge. Now, we need not tell the bishies that you have joined us. We can use you two to seek out new information."  
  
Hikaru and Natsumi smiled at each other.  
  
Portal Girl walked up to Rika. "I believe it is time to move in commander."  
  
"All right!" Rika bellowed.  
  
~*~  
  
"Cael, you have to move now," Q-Bert said and gave the child a small push towards the door.  
  
"NO! YOU SAW WHAT THEY DID TO LINK, NO WAY!!" Cael replied trying his best to go against Q-Bert's push.  
  
"Please?" Q-Bert asked again.  
  
"NO!!!!" Cael shouted back.  
  
A little light bulb went off next to Q-Bert's head. "Sakura-san would be proud of you."  
  
Cael stopped struggling to contemplate what Q-Bert said, and Q-Bert took that chance to push Cael through the door way.  
  
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!" Cael screamed all the way into the hall way.  
  
"I'll be back in no time!" portal Girl was saying as she walked out of the door, and into Cael. Cael stared up at Portal Girl and Portal Girl stared back at Cael.  
  
"Uh... Nice day today, ne?" Cael asked nervously.  
  
"I GOT A HOSTAGE!!" Portal Girl yelled. She picked up the mini-bishie-to- be and tossed him into the kitchen.  
  
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" Cael screamed again.  
  
"Hn." Rika said as she caught Cael. "Sometimes I wonder about Portal Girl..." She put Cael down with a smile. "Don't worry," she said to him. "We won't hurt you. We aren't allowed to. Sakura-chan's orders."  
  
Cael looked around nervously. "Where IS Sakura-san?" he asked.  
  
"Off on a wild goose chase, I suppose," Lizzee1 said evasively. Lizzee1 then perked up. "Do you need an operation?" she asked Cael.  
  
Cael shook his head frantically and backed up. "N-no!!" he said.  
  
~-~  
  
Portal Girl chuckled to herself as she slinked down the hall. 'Bet he wasn't expecting that,' she thought. She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she snuck headlong into Vash and Q-Bert, who were heading back to their hideout with a crispy Link.  
  
"AHHH!!" Vash howled. He jumped and dropped Link's legs and whipped around to see who had bumped into him. "Cae- oh, it's you, Portal Girl," he said to the mouth of a bazooka.  
  
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Portal Girl demanded.  
  
"What are YOU doing here," Q-Bert asked her.  
  
"Uh... just.. Making sure no one is by our super-secret hideout," Portal Girl said.  
  
"You mean the kitchen?" Vash asked, staring at the bazooka with a bit of trepidation.  
  
"No, i mean the SUPER secret hideout! The one that you don't know about!" Portal Girl said.  
  
"Ca-chan's office?" Q-Bert asked.  
  
"NO!" Portal Girl shouted back. "You don't know about it, so you can't guess!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
Vash took a small step backwards. "Well... we'll be going now...."  
  
Vash picked Link's legs back up and continued walking.  
  
'Darn... they know they hideout... we'll have to move,' Portal Girl thought dismally.  
  
She hurried back to the kitchen to announce what news she had.  
  
"THEY KNOW WHERE OUR HIDEOUT IS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she bellowed as she burst through the door.  
  
"Well, everyone does now..." Rika said as she plugged her ears.  
  
"We have to move..." Portal Girl said more calmly.  
  
"Move to where?" Lizzee1 asked.  
  
Natsumi cackled quietly. "The hospital."  
  
Hikaru turned to her friend. "You can't be serious! That's brilliant!"  
  
Natsumi beamed proudly and dusted her knuckles on her shirt. "Heh heh."  
  
"All right, so we move to the hospital. One by one now, and if you come across any bishies, make up a place to be going. Got it?" Rika explained.  
  
The other girls nodded.  
  
"Ok, let's have Hikaru go first. The bishies will at least believe you. They don't think you are insane," Rika said.  
  
"But... I flew through a window when I came here," Hikaru reminded.  
  
Rika looked around. "Uh... well... they won't remember that. Oh, and take Cael with you. He might try to escape."  
  
Hikaru nodded and then took Cael's hand. "Right."  
  
She walked down the hall a quietly as she could. But, to her dismay, Inu Yasha walked up.  
  
"Where are you going?" he asked eyeing the hand that she had over Cael's mouth.  
  
'...if you come across any bishies, make up a place to be going.' Rika's warning replayed in her mind. "I'm going to the gym to train Cael some more."  
  
Inu Yasha looked at her skeptically. "All right, proceed."  
  
Hikaru saluted and marched on, in the direction of the gym, which, unfortunately, was opposite of the direction in which she wanted to go. 'Looks like I will just have to climb over the roof,' She thought.  
  
~-~  
  
"Well, I'm going to try again," Portal Girl said. "We have to capture Q- Bert and torture him for information."  
  
"TORTURE?!" Natsumi cried.  
  
"Let me do it!" Lizzee1 said.  
  
"No!" Rika said. "That's inhumane. We'll just tickle him until he gives us the answers."  
  
"But, that's technically torture," Portal Girl pointed out.  
  
The others were silent.  
  
"I'm off!" Portal Girl walked out again, and this time, didn't run into anyone. She paused. 'I don't know where the hideout is,' she thought. 'Hm. Better capture a random bishie to make sure.'  
  
By pure luck, Syaoran meandered from around the corner. Portal Girl lifted her bazooka. "Show me where your hideout is and you shall live." She commanded.  
  
Syaoran stared at her. "Why?" he asked.  
  
"I'M THE ONE ASKING QUESTIONS HERE!!" Portal Girl shrieked dangerously.  
  
Syaoran cowered. "Fine!!" he said. "Just don't kill me!!"  
  
"I can't guarantee that," Portal Girl said airily and glanced at her fingernails, checking to make sure that they were still black as night.  
  
Syaoran sighed. "Follow me," he said.  
  
Portal Girl paused a minute. 'This is too easy,' she thought. After reminding herself that SHE was the one that had the weapon of mass destruction, however, she followed Syaoran. 


	23. Risk! And the Battle for the Captives

Syaoran led Portal Girl around in a big circle, hoping with all his might that she would get bored and leave on her own free will. "Not a chance buster, you'd better take me to your hideout now. My finger is itching to pull the trigger and I can't always stop my finger. It has a mind of it's own," Portal Girl said abruptly, startling Syaoran.  
  
Syaoran hung his head in defeat and headed towards the hideout. When they reached the hideout, Portal Girl stared in horror.  
  
'Hikaru!' she thought frantically. "Oh my..." she said out loud. "Psssh, oh jeeze, you took over the hospital? Oh lame is that?! I mean, of all the places, how could you choose the hospital?!?"  
  
Syaoran glared at her. "Well, we were safely hidden in it until you came along.  
  
Portal Girl snorted. "You won't be for long." she said.  
  
Syaoran smiled. "Are you sure?" he asked.  
  
Suddenly, Vash and Knives jumped out at her and tackled her. Portal Girl yelled and waved around her bazooka, but the bishies were able to overcome her with their supreme tallness. They trussed her up and took her into the hospital.  
  
'What have I gotten myself into?!?!' Portal Girl thought dismally.  
  
"Syaoran, go get Q-Bert," Vash said as he tied Portal Girl to a gurney.  
  
Syaoran nodded and walked into the office in the hospital. "Sir, we have caught one of the girls."  
  
"Very good. Let's... punish her for the deeds of her commanders," Q-Bert said lightly.  
  
The two exited the office and walked over to Portal Girl.  
  
"So you ARE their leader!" Portal Girl exclaimed, pointing her index finger at Q-Bert the best she could.  
  
O-Bert smiled. "Indeed I am. Now, we have a few questions to ask you."  
  
"You won't get anything out of me!" Portal Girl spat back at him.  
  
Q-Bert laughed. "I'm not so sure of that."  
  
Portal Girl sighed as sadly as she could. "Just don't untie my hands, please," she said. "When I'm afraid, I have the unfortunate habit of trying to strangle myself."  
  
Q-Bert glanced at Syaoran, alarmed slightly. "Well, alright," he said.  
  
'CURSES! FOILED AGIAN!' Portal Girl thought. "Did I say my hands? I meant my feet. My hands are AWFULLY uncomfortable," she said.  
  
Q-Bert stared at her. "I don't understand you," he said, "But that won't stop me from questioning you." He squatted down in front of her so that they were on an eye-to-eye level. "Where is the super-secret hideout?" he asked.  
  
"Gee!" Hikaru's voice floated in. "Our new secret-super hideout looks an awful lot like the bishies' hideout," she said. "How strange!"  
  
A muffled voice floated down with Hikaru's.  
  
Q-Bert looked up and Hikaru's head was hanging in from a sky light above, and so was Cael's.  
  
"Cael! How could you!?" Q-Bert asked with a shocked look.  
  
Vash looked up as well and saw that the bishie-to-be had a gag in his mouth.  
  
"Um.. sir, I think they are hold him hostage," Vash said.  
  
"I know that!" Q-Bert snapped.  
  
Vash backed up behind Portal Girl and Hikaru slipped through the sky light and landed next to Portal Girl.  
  
"I see you are in a bit of trouble," she said and bent down to untie her.  
  
Portal Girl smiled. "I thought that they had caught you already."  
  
"No.. I got sidetracked when Inu Yasha asked me where I was going so I had to come here via the roof." Hikaru replied.  
  
'Traitors! Everywhere there are traitors!' Q-Bert thought frantically.  
  
Once Portal Girl was free from her bonds she bent down and began to pull something out of her left sock.... it was yet another grenade launcher.  
  
"AHAHAHA!! Q-BERT! YOU ARE NOW A HOSTAGE!!" Portal Girl yelled.  
  
Q-Bert sweatdropped. "Couldn't we just work this out?" he asked.  
  
"No," Portal Girl said.  
  
Several bishies appeared behind Q-Bert, ready to save their leader.  
  
"I have an idea," Hikaru said. "Why don't you do a competition? If you win, you get to capture us and get Cael back. If we win, we get Q-Bert, Cael, and another bishie?" she said.  
  
Portal Girl and Q-Bert contemplated this option for a bit, then agreed.  
  
"Now, how about a nice game of... RISK?!" Hikaru said and pulled the whole board game out of her pocket.  
  
Q-Bert sweatdropped. "I'm horrible at that game." he said.  
  
Portal Girl clasped her hands. "World domination," she cackled. "Just my genre!"  
  
"Can I have another bishie to help me?" Q-Bert pleaded.  
  
"I guess," Hikaru said. "As long as I get to help Portal Girl.  
  
Q-Bert agreed, then picked Knives. 'Who better than a psycho maniac who wants to eradicate human kind?' he reasoned.  
  
"Um.. sir, though I wish to eradicate human kind... I am very horrible at this game," Knives explained as he sat next to Q-Bert.  
  
Q-Bert paled. "Can I choose another bishie?" he asked, hoping the girl's would agree.  
  
"No, you already chose a bishie. You may not have choose again," Hikaru said and handed the pieces over to Q-Bert and Knives.  
  
'Nooooooooooo!!!!!! I shall lose at this rate... curses... if only Sakura were here, she would find this war completely idiotic!' he thought.  
  
~ with Sakura and Naoko ~  
  
"I challenge you to a duel!" Yugi Moto exclaimed and pointed a finger at the two bishie captors.  
  
Sakura paled and Naoko laughed.  
  
"Of course you would! Therefore, Sakura will be your duel partner!" Naoko said and shoved Sakura up the steps to the top of the arena.  
  
Sakura paled even more. "I'm gonna kill you Naoko! I don't know how to play duel monsters!"  
  
"Heh...." was all Naoko said in reply to that.  
  
~ back at the preserve ~  
  
"Well... I think it's time to send another person. You, Mooie, it's your turn. Head straight for the hospital," Rika told her.  
  
Mooie saluted and grabbed a huge pack of stuff.  
  
"Do you really need all of that?" Rika asked as she sweatdropped.  
  
Mooie looked at her as if she were insane. "Who wouldn't?"  
  
Mooie proceeded to pull out random pieces of cheese, chocolate, pencils, paper, books, rubber bands, and peanut butter jars to explain the importance of each and every single item.  
  
Rika sweatdropped. "Uhm, Lizzee1? why don't you go?"  
  
Lizzee1 saluted. "Bob and I shall do our best!" she marched out of the preserve and headed to the hospital.  
  
~*~  
  
"HAH!" Portal Girl yelled as she rolled a triple six on the red die. "I WIN!!"  
  
Q-Bert sighed as he rolled two ones. He had only three countries left, and was going to loose those, too. Knives sat, contemplating the board.  
  
"I shall END my turn," Portal Girl said and viewed the twelve countries she had just added to her empire.  
  
Knives suddenly pointed out a random country. "Attack that one," he said. It had only three armies. Q-Bert looked at the five armies he had received at the beginning of his turn and sighed. "Alright," he said.  
  
So Q-Bert attacked and one that country, his spirits just brightened. He attacked again, and again, until he won back 4 of the twelve countries he lost.  
  
Portal Girl grumbled in distaste. "I'll get them back, don't worry about that."  
  
So the game continued and Lizzee1 stuck her head in the door. "Am I interrupting something?"  
  
The bishies that were not playing Risk looked at her and shook their heads no. So Lizzee1 stepped into the room and examined the game.  
  
"Interesting... yay! Portal Girl is winning!" Lizzee1 cried happily. "What's that Bob? You say you see a sadness in the near future? Who's?"  
  
Vash looked at Lizzee1 talking with her carrot and gave her a strange look. Lizzee1 took no notice.  
  
"Wait, what's that again Bob? Someone in this room dislikes you? Who? I shall destroy them. What? Vash?" Lizzee1 looked up to Vash and he paled considerably.  
  
Lizzee1 narrowed her eyes at Vash and then gave into a chase.  
  
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAA!!" Vash wailed as he charged around the room.  
  
"AHAHAHAHA!!" Lizzee1 laughed insanely.  
  
"Your move" Q-Bert said to Portal Girl triumphantly.  
  
"I would go there," Hikaru said.  
  
"OKAY!" Portal Girl replied and proceeded to attack Siam.  
  
~*~  
  
"And I need THIS because whenever a mouse attacks me," Mooie said, holding up a piece of Gruyere cheese, "I can throw it at the mouse and the precious cheese would not be damaged!"  
  
"I ......... see............... " Rika said.  
  
"Do you really?!" Mooie replied happily.  
  
"Uh.. sure....." Rika replied with her fingers crossed behind her back. "Well, um... Ca-chan, your turn, and take Mooie with you."  
  
Ca saluted and grabbed Mooie by the arm, causing her to drop her cheese and dragged her out of the room.  
  
"MY CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESE!!!" Mooie's voice echoed through the preserve.  
  
Rika sweatdropped.  
  
~*~  
  
Portal Girl won Siam and attacked India with her larger army, and again, won. She then proceeded to attach China, and easily won that, next she moved on to Afghanistan, then the Middle East. All that was left for her to capture was Egypt.  
  
"I end my turn," Portal Girl said and smiled.  
  
Q-Bert looked to Knives. "Now what? We only have one country left."  
  
Knives stared at the board. "We have no choice. We must attack."  
  
"But her army is four times as big as ours!" Q-Bert protested.  
  
"We have no other choice! You must attack or forfeit!" Knives exclaimed.  
  
"All right... I attack the Middle East," Q-Bert said sullenly.  
  
Of course... Portal Girl won. Who doubted her?  
  
"Ahem. You shall come with me, Q-Bert, Cael, and we shall see to your torture." Portal Girl said, business-like, and stood up.  
  
"TORTURE?!" Q-Bert said.  
  
"Yesh." Hikaru said. She grabbed Cael while Portal Girl grabbed Q-Bert. "You shall reveal ALL!"  
  
The other bishies watched with dismay as the prizes of the game were removed from the hospital and back to the kitchen.  
  
~*~  
  
"I think that's everyone," Rika said and looked around. The last people had been sent to the hospital, and it was about time for her to go herself. She took one last scan of the knife drawer to make sure she had taken all pointy objects, then headed off to the hospital.  
  
~*~  
  
"Where did everybody go?" Portal Girl asked once she entered the kitchen.  
  
"To the new super secret hideout, I guess," Hikaru said.  
  
"Oh pooh..." Portal Girl pouted. "I guess we'll just have to go back to the hospital to commence with the torturing."  
  
Hikaru nodded and grabbed Cael by the hand.  
  
The two headed back to the hospital where they found the rest of the girls staring in shock at all of the depressed bishies.  
  
"Uh... Rika, we caught Q-Bert...." Hikaru said.  
  
Rika jumped and turned around. "Of course you did! I never doubted you." She laughed heartily.  
  
"We get to torture him now, right?" Portal Girl asked happily.  
  
"Of course!" Rika replied grinning.  
  
With the help of Mooie and Ca-chan, Portal Girl tied Q-Bert to that same gurney that she was tied to. She took his socks off and tied his hands and feet down securely.  
  
"No hiding things in your socks now," Portal Girl said and laughed like a maniac.  
  
"Uh... I hate to burst your bubble, but you were the one who hid things in your socks," Q-Bert said.  
  
"SILENCE!" Portal Girl bellowed. "Lizzee1, the feather."  
  
Lizzee1 handed Portal Girl a feather.  
  
"COMMENCE WITH THE TICKLING!" Rika shouted.  
  
Portal Girl laughed evilly.  
  
Just then, Naoko and Sakura staggered into the hospital.  
  
"I am so beat..." Sakura said.  
  
"HA! You didn't have to fight them all off with a wet noodle," Naoko said.  
  
"Neither did you," Sakura responded.  
  
"........................................................................... .....SO?"  
  
The two girls paused when they saw the scene.  
  
"Why don't we just leave and go get ice cream?" Sakura asked.  
  
"OH YEAH, BABY!" Naoko said.  
  
The two girls staggered back out of the hospital and down to a nearby ice cream parlor.  
  
~*~  
  
"Uh... where were we?" Portal Girl asked.  
  
"You were just about to tickle Q-Bert with the feather," Mooie reminded.  
  
"Oh right!" Portal Girl replied.  
  
She laughed evilly again and proceeded to tickle Q-Bert with the feather.  
  
~*~  
  
Sakura and Naoko both sat down on a bench with their ice cream and were eating happily when they both looked at each other with wide eyes. The quickly dropped their ice cream... well, Sakura dropped her ice cream and Naoko grabbed, and both ran back to the preserve and back into the hospital.  
  
Insane laughter and just plain laughter filled the entire hall as the girls burst through the door.  
  
"What's going on here?" Sakura demanded.  
  
Portal Girl and the other girls looked at Sakura and Naoko.  
  
"We're torturing him," Natsumi said.  
  
"Why?" Naoko asked as she took another bite of her ice cream and handed Sakura's back to her.  
  
"It's all part of the secret PLAN!" Hikaru said.  
  
"Hikaru-chan! I thought you were above all of this?"  
  
"Can I try?" Naoko asked.  
  
"NO!! YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" Sakura said. "We don't torture!!  
  
Portal Girl pouted. "Fine," she said. "How do you expect to get information out of them?"  
  
"ASK them!" Sakura said. She looked at Q-Bert. "What is this secret plan of yours?" she asked.  
  
"To capture you all and tie you up while we ran the preserve for a day!!" Q- Bert sobbed.  
  
Portal Girl brandished her feather at him. "WE DON'T BELEIVE YOU!"  
  
"That IS awfully weird," Naoko said thoughtfully.  
  
"Yeah..." Sakura said slowly. "Well, don't actually HURT him," she said and walked out of the room.  
  
"IT'S MY TURN NEXT!" Naoko bellowed.  
  
"All right!" Ca-chan called after her. "We'll call you when Portal Girl's done."  
  
Portal Girl immediately dropped the feather. "Sakura! Naoko! Did you catch Joey?!"  
  
Sakura and Naoko both froze in their tracks.  
  
"What do we tell her?" Sakura whispered.  
  
"The only thing we can," Naoko replied softly.  
  
"But... she'll be angry," Sakura added.  
  
"There's nothing we can do about that," Naoko retorted.  
  
"But she might torture US," Sakura said turning to look at Naoko.  
  
"Good point..." Naoko said imagining Portal Girl dipping the two into a tub of ice cream. "Though, that wouldn't be so bad," she mumbled to herself.  
  
"She wouldn't dip us in ice cream. That's not a torture to you," Sakura snapped as if reading Naoko's mind.  
  
Naoko sweatdropped. She turned to Portal Girl after taking a step backward. "Well, you see," she said.  
  
They took another step back. "Yugi was there...." Sakura continued.  
  
"And you know how good he is at cards," Naoko said. They took another step back.  
  
"And, well, I had to duel him," Sakura said. They bolted out the door.  
  
Portal Girl sighed. "I guess he wasn't caught. Looks like I will just have to take out my sorrow on you!" she turned to Q-Bert.  
  
"Help me?" Q-Bert said.  
  
~*~  
  
"THAT was close," Naoko said.  
  
"Yeah," Sakura said. She paused for a minute to lean against the wall. "We are going to have to catch him soon, or we will be fried - "  
  
"In a vat of ice cream," Naoko finished for Sakura.  
  
"That doesn't make sense," Sakura said.  
  
"Doesn't it?" Naoko said airily. "Well, I'm off to go hide in a cupboard. You can save the bishies if you want." She walked off down the hall.  
  
Sakura considered her options. She reasoned that Q-Bert had been tortured enough, but Portal Girl was in there. She sighed and reasoned that the right thing to do was to save Q-Bert. She headed back to the hospital and sneaked silently into the room.  
  
"Tell us your true intent!" Portal Girl demanded.  
  
"I already told you!" Q-Bert sobbed again. "To capture you all and tie you up while we ran the preserve for a day"  
  
"AND I TOLD YOU I DIDN'T BELIEVE YOU!" Portal Girl shouted back.  
  
The other bishies took a few steps back and so did the girls.  
  
"Think Sakura, what are you going to do??!!?!?!?!?!? Wait! I know!" Sakura thought to herself.  
  
Hikaru looked to Sakura with pleading eyes. "Stop this." she mouthed.  
  
Sakura nodded and took a deep breath. "OH MY GOD! LOOK IT'S JOEY!" Sakura shouted and pointed out the window.  
  
Portal Girl quickly turned and ran to the window. "Where!?"  
  
Sakura ran over to the gurney and started pushing it, picking up speed to where it was the gurney pulling her rather than her pushing it and she jumped on.  
  
"Are you ok?" she asked Q-Bert.  
  
Q-Bert stared at her with thankful eyes and nodded.  
  
Sakura quickly untied him and the two held onto the gurney as it sped through the preserve.  
  
Sakura couldn't resist. "WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!" she cried as teh gurney was swept through the hallway.  
  
They came to a stop near the entrance. Sakura quickly undid the bishie and he got off the gurney, a bit dizzy.  
  
"Where do we go now?" Q-Bert asked her.  
  
"Uhm... TO THE GYM!!" Sakura cried and the two raced off.  
  
~*~  
  
"Well, that was no fun!" Portal Girl said. "She took my torturee!" She turned to the other bishies. "Anyone else want to be tortured?"  
  
All of the bishies shook their heads or dissented loudly.  
  
"Fine." Portal Girl said, a bit put-out. "I'll just go greet people."  
  
~*~  
  
"Man... it sure is cramped in here," Naoko said. She sighed. "I guess I will get out now... I mean, being stifled in ice cream isn't TOO bad. I'll just eat my way out of it!"  
  
She stepped out of the cupboard and looked around. No one was in the kitchen, so she stepped outside and looked around.  
  
Sakura ran straight into her and skidded into the wall.  
  
"OW!" Naoko howled and rubbed her arm, the point of impact.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Sakura asked her.  
  
"Trying to find a more comfortable place to hide," Naoko said. "What about yOU?" she cried as Sakura grabbed her hand and rushed her off to the gym.  
  
Q-Bert was at their heels when they skidded to a stop in the gym.  
  
"We'll be safe in here, for a while at least," Sakura said as she caught her breath.  
  
Naoko rubbed her arm again. "If I get a bruise from that, you're going to pay for it."  
  
Sakura sweatdropped.  
  
"Thanks for saving me Sakura-san," Q-Bert said.  
  
Sakura beamed at him. "No problem. I couldn't leave a bishie in there to be tortured."  
  
Q-Bert's spirits fell. He had thought that she saved him because she liked him.  
  
Sakura sat down on the floor Indian-style with one graceful movement and sighed.  
  
"Is there anything to do in here?" Naoko asked.  
  
They three looked around. The entire gym was barren. The pool was gone, as were the stands and the all of the party supplies. It looked rather dreadful empty.  
  
"We need to spiff this place up. What say you Naoko?" Sakura asked.  
  
Naoko nodded enthusiastically. "We need a 'Spiff up the Gym' day. We should talk about this with Natsumi."  
  
"Right, but we can do that later," Sakura replied.  
  
Q-Bert paled. "I think I hear someone coming!" he said frantically.  
  
Sakura and Naoko paused and looked at each other. "Where should we hide?" Sakura asked.  
  
They looked around the room, but the only hiding spot was an equipment room.  
  
"I guess we should go in there," Naoko said and pointed out her hiding spot.  
  
The other two nodded and they raced to the room and rushed in just in time.  
  
"Man!" Portal Girl said. "This would be a great hiding spot!"  
  
"We got here first!" Vash whined.  
  
The three hide-ees looked at each other.  
  
"No, we got here together," Portal Girl said. "And, since I have the bazooka, I get the room."  
  
"I'm cuter!" Vash challenged.  
  
"No, I am!" Portal Girl responded.  
  
"This is getting....weird" Naoko said.  
  
"You're one to talk," Sakura responded. Naoko poked her.  
  
"We can settle this one way only," Portal Girl said. "Rock, paper, scissors."  
  
"Agreed," Vash said.  
  
It was silent for a few second.  
  
"AWW! Best two out of three!" Vash whined.  
  
"Nope! I won!" Portal Girl said.  
  
"What do you say we blow this popsicle stand?" Naoko asked.  
  
"I agree totally," Q-Bert said.  
  
The three burst out of the closet and started to run towards the door. Unfortunately for them, Portal Girl had quick reflexes, so she apprehended the bishie capitan, and Vash had long arms, so he was able to catch the captors.  
  
".......... What should we do with them?" Portal Girl asked.  
  
"Tie them up and hang them by their feet?" Vash suggested.  
  
"Sounds good to me," Portal Girl said.  
  
The two dragged off Q-Bert, Sakura, and Naoko. 


End file.
